So a strong woman, who is she? What does she look like? What makes her who she is?
I asked the question and the answers, and images, I got back were wide and varied.
“Someone who knows who she and is not afraid to be it”.
“A woman who has the strength to be herself”
“A woman who can hold her own with dignity when she gets that condescending get back to the kitchen sink look”
“A woman who can wear her trainers with a dress and still be taken seriously in a meeting”
It would seem that having the strength to be an individual is a quality a lot of us admire. That amazing ability that some women have to stand out from the crowd and be totally content in their own skin. Or the women who stand up for what they believe in and have the courage to voice their opinions in an educated and non-judgemental fashion.
“It is the strength of character, the ability to share weakness, to be honest with themselves and keep on keeping on”
“A woman who copes with all life throws at her and rises above it”
“Women who can skate on thin ice confidently!”
We also seem to admire those women who no matter how many times they fall, dust off their well-worn characters, and get right back up again. The I will survive instinct seems to kick in for some of us even when we hit an all-time low.
“I admire women who can laugh at themselves, can take the hit when they know they are being a diva, can sink a pint with the girls and sip cocktails with the boys. In other words can multi task the hell out of life and adapt chameleon like to which ever disaster they find them self in”
“Well read, have a great sense of humour, confident in themselves, happy, they care and they look well”
So another quality would seem to be the old multi-tasking! Not just in a practical sense but in that innate ability that some women have to be able to cope with everything at once and not have a hair out-of-place. How many of us have been grateful for a friend like this who has held our hand or held our hair? Agrees that yes he is a git and we deserve better but a few days later will tell you honestly to get over it and move on!
Many of you told me you admired Mum, Aunts, Grandmothers and teachers. They seem to have been a major inspiration in our lives, some providing fantastic examples of how to cope when the cupboard was bare and others setting standards which we seem to live our lives by.
From Mo Mowlam to Marilyn Monroe, Mother Teresa to the many writers and entrepreneurs who shape our world, I have to say that it has amazed me who some of the women were who have influenced us, often the most unlikely characters and the most simple of situations have provided inspiration when we have badly needed it.
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and stories, Strength and Characters will be an ongoing category in my Blog, to hopefully share more of your stories and thoughts, including very shortly the guys turn!
Finally, I just wanted to finish with an image that I love, I came across it by accident in a magazine a long time ago. It provided a huge inspiration to me a few weeks ago when I was struggling a bit with life. I love the fact that model is fully made up, not a hair out-of-place but still looks great pulling a face, showing off her strong arms and wearing the silliest of sunglasses.
I shared the image with a friend. She laughed and said she had another one that was similar. She sent me back this with the note …
“Perhaps in the eyes of some no supermodel image but someone who is never afraid to put on a red nose, hide behind the glasses when she needs to but most of all is always there with a hug or a good luck no matter how crap she is feeling”
Want to know what a strong woman is? Go stand in front of the mirror, she is YOU!
G x