Whether you live in the United States, Canada or anywhere else in the world, alarmingly high poverty statistics, including the rise in the number of working poor, have one thing in common; women.
Maria Shriver's poverty article titled "The Female Face of Poverty" which first appeared on the Atlantic's website January 08, 2014, is based on research conducted for the Shriver Report. The article provides the statistics about women in the workplace, gender inequality, equal pay and rights for women plus discrimination against women.
Maria shares an opinion related to her findings and I quote "Everywhere they look, every magazine cover and talk show and website tells them that women are supposed to be feeling more "empowered" than ever, but they don't feel empowered. They feel exhausted". Yet later she talks about how powerful women are!
I applaud this article but Maria Shriver clearly misses the meaning of women empowerment. Empowerment means to take back power, be the authority, the leader and take decisive action to move toward success. Maybe the War on Poverty did not work because it focused on poverty instead of focusing on empowerment.
What you focus on expands! Regardless of your current circumstance, you can choose what you focus on. Focus on poverty, you get more opportunity to experience what poverty has to offer. Focus on empowerment, you get more opportunity to experience what empowerment has to offer.
Women empowerment gives you permission to be powerful. Not the male definition of powerful but the feminine definition. Women are resilient, flexible and have an incredible amount of inner strength.
Women empowerment gives you permission to be the authority in your life. Not the male definition of authority but the feminine definition. Women are not aggressive by nature by nature but can lead with encouraging words and motivation that inspires everyone to be their best. That is authority that leads with integrity.
Women empowerment gives you permission to take decisive action that moves you toward success. Not the male definition of action but the feminine definition. Women have to feel right about decisions and once they do, they can trust themselves to take action.
Let's celebrate International Women's Day every day. If you are a woman entrepreneur, a woman in the business world, a professional woman, a working woman, a woman in transition or a single mom, discover the benefits of living an empowered life.
When you are living an empowered life, you are confident. You trust your voice and allow it to be heard without fear. You rejoice in being a woman and you allow your true feminine nature to guide you toward balanced success. You make decisions that are right for you. Are you ready to get empowered?
Sunday, March 16, 2014
At The Dinner Table One Weekend - What Matters Is The Orange Juice - Not The Cups: A Narrative
A wave of nostalgia overtook Mama, as she tried to recall the halcyon days of her youth. Using her bare hands to wipe our tears dropping freely down her cheeks, she continued:
"Your Grandpa had been a very jovial person. During his lifetime, he behaved with others with benignity and good mannerliness. When he was alive, people extended their hands of co-operation toward him. They honored and respected him. They shed tears after his death. He led such an agreeable life that no one had any complaint against him, nor did he cause any harm to any one during his lifetime. He always attracted others to himself. So since his death fifteen years ago, he has always been remembered in good words. Undoubtedly, a tree that has a thick trunk tends to have many branches."
Trying to balance her self on the stool she was sitting on, she continued:
"As Jemima, Umayyad, Beatrice, Alberta and myself sat around the table eating our dinner, little did we realize that it was going to be an unforgettable dinner. Indeed, the mother of all dinners." Pausing for a moment, she continued:
"Your Grandpa had realized Jemima's gorgeous costume and said:
"Jemima, who's that lucky guy in your life?"
"There's nobody yet."
"Aren't you dating at the moment?"
"I used to, but not these days, I have stopped."
"Stopped permanently?"
After a brief silence, and speaking as if a bone had been stuck in her gullet, Jemima answered:
"No, temporarily."
Mama continued:
"I felt uncomfortable all along as your Grandpa continued asking my friend about her private life. I had invited Jemima, the most beautiful among us, to my birthday party and nothing else. After all whether she'd been dating or not was none of your Grandpa's business."
"Do you mean you have not given up on men yet?"
"No, not at all. It's only that I've now gotten frustrated because I can't find the man of my dreams."
"The man of your dreams?"
"Yes, a smart, handsome, tall, intelligent, well-educated and wealthy man."
Turning his attention to my other friend, Umayyad, who was nineteen, he inquired:
"Are you also in the same dilemma?"
"Of course I am. It seems to me that all the smart guys have, together with the been extinct." Replied Umayyad.
Mama continued her narrative as we sat in a pensive mood around the dinner table:
"A feeling of shock and discouragement engulfed all of us at the table. Your Grandma hadn't spoken a word until now. I watched in blank dismay as she got up and headed to the kitchen. After a few minutes inside, she returned with a large jar of fresh orange juice. She then went back to the kitchen and later returned with an assortment of cups-porcelain, plastics, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, asking us to help ourselves to fresh orange juice.
Mama continued:
"When all of us had a cup of fresh orange juice in hand, giving a chuckle of delight, Your Grandma said:
"If you all notice, all the nice-looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is quite normal for you all to want only the best for yourselves, that's the source of your anguish. What all of you really wanted to drink was fresh orange juice, not the cups. However, all of you consciously went for the better cups, and surprisingly enough, you are eyeing each other's cups!"
Leaning toward Jemima who had been sitting next to her on her right side, Your Grandma continued:
"These cups are like the sort of men you young girls have been searching unsuccessfully for. These cups are nothing but tools that contain the fresh orange juice you are all drinking. The quality of the orange juice you put in any other cup, whether a cheap and plastic one or an exquisite one doesn't change. What matters is the orange juice - not the cups. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cups, we fail to enjoy the orange juice in them."
Pausing for a moment, your Grandma continued:
"The orange juice is what would give you nourishment, not the cups. The orange juice is the love that would sustain you and who ever you choose to date and later get married to. You should have rather concentrated on the quality of the orange juice - not the quality of these cups. The cups represent those men you are all aspiring to date, and the orange juice also represent the love you should have been more concerned about. As for the men of your dreams, they act like containers of love. They may only be empty containers. Even though, outwardly they could be pleasant-looking like those cups you all chose. They could have personalities that could even charm animals, but inwardly, their characters will not necessarily be solid. With a grim face, the old lady said:
"Now you girls, tell me, what is the use of an exquisite and expensive cup if it can't contain liquids? Mama concluded her narrative.
This author has been a true love advocate for over two decades, and has worked in various capacities to enhance true love and teach its meaning to various communities all over the world.He has visited many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and has been a networker, a motivator and a writer. He loves making friends all over the globe. And in the organization that he belongs to, they bring opportunities of Health and Wealth to those who are ready to lift themselves out of a life of limitations and unfulfilled dreams.
"Your Grandpa had been a very jovial person. During his lifetime, he behaved with others with benignity and good mannerliness. When he was alive, people extended their hands of co-operation toward him. They honored and respected him. They shed tears after his death. He led such an agreeable life that no one had any complaint against him, nor did he cause any harm to any one during his lifetime. He always attracted others to himself. So since his death fifteen years ago, he has always been remembered in good words. Undoubtedly, a tree that has a thick trunk tends to have many branches."
Trying to balance her self on the stool she was sitting on, she continued:
"As Jemima, Umayyad, Beatrice, Alberta and myself sat around the table eating our dinner, little did we realize that it was going to be an unforgettable dinner. Indeed, the mother of all dinners." Pausing for a moment, she continued:
"Your Grandpa had realized Jemima's gorgeous costume and said:
"Jemima, who's that lucky guy in your life?"
"There's nobody yet."
"Aren't you dating at the moment?"
"I used to, but not these days, I have stopped."
"Stopped permanently?"
After a brief silence, and speaking as if a bone had been stuck in her gullet, Jemima answered:
"No, temporarily."
Mama continued:
"I felt uncomfortable all along as your Grandpa continued asking my friend about her private life. I had invited Jemima, the most beautiful among us, to my birthday party and nothing else. After all whether she'd been dating or not was none of your Grandpa's business."
"Do you mean you have not given up on men yet?"
"No, not at all. It's only that I've now gotten frustrated because I can't find the man of my dreams."
"The man of your dreams?"
"Yes, a smart, handsome, tall, intelligent, well-educated and wealthy man."
Turning his attention to my other friend, Umayyad, who was nineteen, he inquired:
"Are you also in the same dilemma?"
"Of course I am. It seems to me that all the smart guys have, together with the been extinct." Replied Umayyad.
Mama continued her narrative as we sat in a pensive mood around the dinner table:
"A feeling of shock and discouragement engulfed all of us at the table. Your Grandma hadn't spoken a word until now. I watched in blank dismay as she got up and headed to the kitchen. After a few minutes inside, she returned with a large jar of fresh orange juice. She then went back to the kitchen and later returned with an assortment of cups-porcelain, plastics, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, asking us to help ourselves to fresh orange juice.
Mama continued:
"When all of us had a cup of fresh orange juice in hand, giving a chuckle of delight, Your Grandma said:
"If you all notice, all the nice-looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is quite normal for you all to want only the best for yourselves, that's the source of your anguish. What all of you really wanted to drink was fresh orange juice, not the cups. However, all of you consciously went for the better cups, and surprisingly enough, you are eyeing each other's cups!"
Leaning toward Jemima who had been sitting next to her on her right side, Your Grandma continued:
"These cups are like the sort of men you young girls have been searching unsuccessfully for. These cups are nothing but tools that contain the fresh orange juice you are all drinking. The quality of the orange juice you put in any other cup, whether a cheap and plastic one or an exquisite one doesn't change. What matters is the orange juice - not the cups. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cups, we fail to enjoy the orange juice in them."
Pausing for a moment, your Grandma continued:
"The orange juice is what would give you nourishment, not the cups. The orange juice is the love that would sustain you and who ever you choose to date and later get married to. You should have rather concentrated on the quality of the orange juice - not the quality of these cups. The cups represent those men you are all aspiring to date, and the orange juice also represent the love you should have been more concerned about. As for the men of your dreams, they act like containers of love. They may only be empty containers. Even though, outwardly they could be pleasant-looking like those cups you all chose. They could have personalities that could even charm animals, but inwardly, their characters will not necessarily be solid. With a grim face, the old lady said:
"Now you girls, tell me, what is the use of an exquisite and expensive cup if it can't contain liquids? Mama concluded her narrative.
This author has been a true love advocate for over two decades, and has worked in various capacities to enhance true love and teach its meaning to various communities all over the world.He has visited many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and has been a networker, a motivator and a writer. He loves making friends all over the globe. And in the organization that he belongs to, they bring opportunities of Health and Wealth to those who are ready to lift themselves out of a life of limitations and unfulfilled dreams.
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