The strong independent women who came before us strove hard to bring us to the point we are at today. Let’s continue to make them proud.

Let’s be athletes, doctors, engineers, writers, musicians, mechanics, astronauts, or whatever job we dream of doing or whatever person we dream of being— let’s be that. And let’s be great at it. Let’s show the whole world what we’re made of. Let’s show them that we don’t just deserve to have it all, but that we can have it all.

Because, although we’ve come this far, our cause is not over until all young girls believe that they can do anything. Our cause is not over until all young girls believe that being a woman is a blessing, not a curse.

So, let’s teach girls. Let’s teach them to be independent and to love themselves.

Let’s teach them that being a woman is about more than just what we look like or how we dress, but that it is okay to care about what we look like and how we dress. Let’s teach them that we make our own rules. Tall or short, curvy or skinny, light or dark, curly or straight — we are our own versions of beautiful.

Let’s teach them that embracing femininity rather than fearing it will be their greatest strength.

Let’s teach them that if they work hard and put their mind to something, they can and will achieve it. And again, we set our own rules.

Let’s teach them that “being emotional” makes us caring, loving, giving, sacrificial and kind. But that will never take away from how resilient, smart, steadfast, persevering and—dare I say it?—dauntless we can be.

Let’s teach them to never let the world define them, and to find their passion and purpose in life. Let’s teach them not to keep sagging back to their losses, and to rise again after they fall. Failure is a lesson in disguise.

We have a fighting spirit that makes life with us thrilling and a peacefulness that makes life with us worthwhile.

We are made to add color to this world, so let’s not constrict ourselves to the black and white boundaries of any patriarchal societies. Let’s grow into colors that we never knew existed and paint the whole world with them.

To all women out there,

Happy ‘Us’ Day Ladies

Link to Article on Elephant Journal

©2018 Dina Al-Mahdy All Rights Reserved