International Women's Day

I am a woman. I think of myself as strong, intelligent, possessed of inner power and beauty, disciplined, and willful. I am also loving, gentle, gracious and fair. I am a mix of qualities, and I celebrate this unique mix as being what makes me the woman that I am.

I do not intend to bow to societal pressures, to fit a stereotype, and certainly not to become "the norm".

I know that I am as competent as a man, as hard-working, clever and capable. I can still be all these things without donning the power suit, and hardening myself against my feminine side.

There have been women in my life who have shaped me, and informed the person that I have become. I thank the women who have paved the way toward equality for women, for me, and told me that I can be and do anything that I choose. I intend to pass this message on to the young girls and women who cross my path in this life, helping them strive ever forward.

I applaud those women who have faltered, but have found the bravery to pull themself up and move on. I applaud those women who have summoned the vast courage necassary to escape their personal prisons. I applaud those women who have stood up to bullying and battering, at the hands of a loved one, or by the laws of their society or religion and said "No More" and have taken back their rights as a woman, and a human.

I encourage all women, everyday, to stand together as no woman fights alone.

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker. ~Helen Keller