A Strong Woman Looks Challenge in the Eye
This month’s quote is about empowerment.
Challenges come in many sizes and flavors. Some are monumental and require collaboration and a herculean effort to overcome them. Others are small daily hiccups, delays, or interruptions that are easy to ignore until they pile up into one giant disruption.
When you think about it, life is about overcoming challenge. And for women, it’s even more so.
Fifty (sixty?) years after the start of the modern women’s rights movement, we still struggle for parity in pay, “me too” issues, and control of our bodies.
When you add in the responsibilities of caring for families, paying bills, preparing meals, and all the other jobs that seem to fall on women’s shoulders, there is a lot of opportunity for things to go sideways and wreak havoc on your day.
Whatever the situation, challenges have a way of making us feel exasperated or, in extreme cases, beaten down.
Which brings us to this quote from singer Gina Carey.
A strong woman looks challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.
Gina’s words remind me of my great-grandmother, Katherine. She passed away when my mother was in high school, so I never met her, but I heard stories from my mother and grandmother.
The woman was indomitable.
She was an Irish immigrant who ran the family butcher shop with my great-grandfather, and she was never afraid of staring down a challenge.
I’m sure she had more than her fair share of challenges juggling a family and a business as an immigrant during the depression and two world wars, but she had the right mindset. Failure was not an option, and she faced those challenges with determination and action.
I doubt she won every battle, but she was fierce and undaunted and stepped up instead of quitting or hiding in a closet.
Some in my family did not appreciate her mindset, especially when she applied it to their wants and needs, but I am grateful for it.
As a third generation descendant, I’ve always known that I don’t have to give up my goals just because something doesn’t go my way. I can, and should, look challenge in the eye and give it a wink.
