Girl power

People often ask me about strength.  Strength training, mainly.  What exercises should they do?  How much can Molly and I lift?  What’s a good weight to use for dumbbells?  And the list goes on.  Physically, I am so much stronger than I was two years ago, which is cool.  Mentally, I’m getting stronger every day.  That has been my drawback on this journey.  Not feeling weak physically, but mentally.  Not thinking I could do certain things and not having faith in myself.  I’m working on getting my mind to match my body and I am certain when I do, I will truly be a force to be reckoned with.  Other people often tell me they think I am strong.  I’m still working on believing them.  It made me think though, how lucky I am that I have been surrounded by incredibly strong women my entire life.  My grandmothers, mother and sister are amazing.  No matter what life hands their way they keep going and do it with grace and dignity…always.  Growing up I never appreciated or could fully comprehend how strong and beautiful these women were.  Sure, I loved them and they were my heroes but now that I’m a grown woman, I have a much better understanding of what they not only endured, by triumphed over. What they have sacrificed for their families, how they’ve worked to better the world around them and that they were the best role models a girl could ever ask for, and they didn’t even know it.  I didn’t need She-ra or Wonderwoman to look up to. I was raised in the presence of greatness which leads me to believe that a little bit of that probably did rub off on me…and that is awesome. And for the days that they forget their strength, I will be here to remind them.