Thursday, April 07, 2005

Just a short note...

I read this today, and I really liked it. It was pinned up on my friend and coworker's cubicle, and I stole it for just a minute so I could copy it. :)

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For every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable.

For every boy who is burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything, there is a girl tired of people not trusting her intelligence.

For every girl who is tired of being called over-sensitive, there is a boy who fears to be gentle, to weep.

For every boy for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity, there is a girl who is called unfeminine because she competes.

For every girl who throws out her E-Z-Bake Oven, there is a boy who wishes to find one.

For ever boy struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires, there is a girl facing the ad industry's attacks on her self-esteem.

For every girl who takes a step toward her liberation, there is a boy who finds the way to freedom a little easier.

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I think we all struggle with our identity from time to time. We all struggle with knowing just what our place is in the grander scheme of things, and what our role is supposed to be. Why are girls supposed to be weepy and sensitive, and men are not supposed to cry or be vulnerable to emotion? Why are women the nurturers and men the providers, and there is to be no mixing or interchanging of the two roles?

Why is a man called successful if he doggedly seeks to excell in his chosen career, but a woman is called an ambitious bitch if she does the same thing?

It seems that, no matter which side of the role definition one stands on, we as a whole tend to operate in extremes. As individuals, perhaps we have found more balance, but the messages sent as a whole are "all or nothing" role defining.

I so appreciated reading that little bit of insight today. It reaffirms my belief that we are not all so very much different. Men may seem cocky and arrogant, but maybe they are just waiting for the important people in their life to give them permission feel vulnerable and admit when they are weak. Women often seem too sensitive and too emotional, but maybe nobody has ever said to them that there is something to be admired in a woman who knows how to be strong without turning into stone. We place so many ridiculously high expectations on ourselves and each other, it is no wonder it is so hard to find the balance between our high standards and our reality.

I am feeling better today, comforted by yesterday's hours of despair. My goals are clear, and I believe God-inspired. I feel like I am moving forward. I do not know what happened, but I feel that something has been released, and good things are to come. We'll see....

Comments:
Great post. I agree with you that we put astronomic expectations on ourselves, or what our lives should look like. I think our enemy has a hand in that, too.

I wonder what the world would be like if everyone let down their walls all at once.
 
I think the shock of seeing ourselves and each other as we really are, without all the expectations and efforts to fulfill those expectations, may be a catastrophe akin to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompei. All of that freedom erupting at once, capturing us forever in that stunned moment of the realization that everyone is human and fragile.
 
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