STRENGTH WITHIN

Today as I was selecting which candle to use with my candle warmer, I selected a candle called Strength Within. There are days when I need to reach deep into myself and pull some additional strength out of my reserve.

As women, we balance everything and it is hard! We place high expectations on ourselves and when we fall short, we become critical. Enter our blocks from stage left. Those blocks start weaving stories and inner conversations that utilize every fear and weakness that we have developed over the years.

My chapter in “She Knows Best” digs into those four blocks so I want to dig into those. However, I must at least mention them although I hate to give them airtime. Assumptions, Limited Beliefs, Interpretations and Inner Voice. As many readers may know, my Inner Voice is named Jamie.

This week has just been one of those weeks. Crazy, jam-packed days. An endless list of to-dos for work and home. And when Friday rolls around, I feel like nothing has been accomplished. Thus, the Strength Within Candle.

To make it through this 13-hour day, I am digging into my strength reserve. I am not letting the fact that my house is a mess, I have a ton of work to do, or that my Christmas decorations are still in the basement waiting to be packed up get the best of me. I am lifting up my strength and focusing on what I accomplished this week. Happy clients, problems solved, cheers when I didn’t expect it, helping my mom, and snuggling with my pups. I am choosing to be strong and focus on what is going well. I am choosing to be excited about this 13-hour day AND that it will end with an event with my gal pals.

Why is this so hard for us to acknowledge our strength? Why are we so critical to focus on the negative or expecting an image of perfection?

I look back at our evolution as women and think about all the glass ceilings that have been broken. Strong and powerful women that I am sure had all the same blocks we did but pushed through. They are extraordinary but my guess is they were not perfect. They probably had the same stories and fears we all have.

I don’t know why we tell this story to ourselves, but I believe we can change this story. My co-authors and I are on purpose about being real. Being real that everything is not perfect and we did not magically create amazing businesses. We failed miserably and to be honest, magnificently. We have days where cash-flow issues are real. We second guess ourselves. We compare ourselves to others without thinking about the reality of what that means. We are great women who have faults.

Thus, I am going to embrace my faults for Valentine’s Day and learn to love my WHOLE self. Those faults and failures are how we learn and evolve. If we ignore them, we end up in this pretend world that does not exist. However, I am not going to let them rule me or tell me that I am less because of them. I am going to use them to make me stronger. I am going to build my strength within.

Author’s Note: (If you love candles, check out Diedre @ FLY Girl Candles)