I stumbled across this quote again recently and it's always been a favorite of mine. It always makes me stop and think. A few years ago I had a tendency to be very abrasive, hard, maybe a lot little like a word that rhymes with itch and has a B at the beginning? Maybe just at bit......
I saw sweetness and gentleness as weakness. That if I was nice or friendly then people would think they could just walk all over me. I'd be the "sweet girl" and I wanted to be the tough chick. I don't really know what changed. Life experiences? Maturity? Both? I am now the person who annoys the group of friends because I can't just judge and bitch about other people anymore. I always see the other side to everyone's story. I used to be the person who my family called a robot. Now it hurts me when they say that because I feel things so strongly with and for other people. I CRY WATCHING SWIFFER COMMERCIALS. I'm soft. I don't mind being sweet because I no longer equate it with being weak. I equate it with being strong. Strong enough to be soft and know that it's ok because I'm still confident who I am.
I think it's something we all learn eventually. I used to want to be the girl that people were afraid of because of how much I didn't care. Now I just want to be the girl that anyone could talk to and who everyone can say "she's so nice!". I don't mind being that person and I challenge everyone to be the same. It's ok to be nice. It's ok to be approachable. Be strong, be confident, be sweet. It's all ok. I heard another quote that has quickly climbed the ranks as an all time favorite of mine
"We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free."
-Kavita Ramdas
I love that. That is what I aspire to be. Any thoughts you have on the topic? Any other thoughts on your mind? Let's learn and grow together! :)
Leave a comment!
xoxo
V
I was just the same - I used to want people to be afraid of me because I was so "strong". Now I see that I was the one who was afraid of being hurt by other people. Now that I'm a bit older, I feel guilty when people are bitching or gossiping.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post. I live by a 'be gentle through this life' sort of rule, and so this spoke volumes to me.
ReplyDeleteGreat posting :)
xx
Love this! And the last quote. You have always been amazing I miss our teenage talks!
ReplyDelete