I’m often asked, “Lin, what does it mean to Woman UP?”
I love the question because the answer is the key to living a Gutsy Glorious Life.
#1. Know what you stand for;
#2. Take a big dose of Vitamin G;
#3. Stand up for what you say you stand for.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the G stands for GUTS.
Why does it take guts (a.k.a., courage, bravery, backbone, moxie, heart) to Woman UP?
Because, quite simply, it’s not easy to do. You’ve got to have the stomach for it. You’ve got to be able to look people in the eye, stick out your tongue and say, “This is how I choose to be me.”
This is about integrity, GirlFriend.
And a woman with integrity can have virtually everything she wants.
Everything.
Lest you just rolled your eyes and said, “Well, I wanted George Clooney but that didn’t happen,” let me explain:
It’s not enough to say you want something. You have to become the kind of woman who is prepared to go after everything she says she wants.
The kind whose actions match up with the words that come out of her mouth.
The kind that’s tired of her own excuses. The kind that’s determined to regret-proof her life.
After all,
talk is cheap,
excuses are boring,
and regret leaves a very bad taste in your mouth.
Whenever my clients say they want something (I want to start my own business; I want to lose weight, I want George Clooney), but they’re afraid they don’t deserve it, or they’ll make fools of themselves, or people will think they’re crazy, or it will be too hard, I always ask them two questions:
#1. Is what you say you want aligned with your core values and principles? (In other words, do you really want this?) If the answer is YES, then…
#2. Which one of the following doors will you choose to open?
- DOOR #1: Your heart’s deepest desires are behind this door. You’d think Door #1 would be the obvious choice for most women except there’s a catch: You have to be willing to go through your “discomfort zone” to fulfill your heart’s desires. One more catch… you have to make a conscious
- DOOR #2: Safety and security and comfort are behind this door. You get to avoid potential embarrassment or criticism and you get to sidestep those who might disapprove of what’s behind Door #1. The catch? You’ll have to answer to your own regret when you get to the end of your life and there are no more chances for do-overs.
Hmmmm, Door #1. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time. It comes with a pit for your stomach, for all those times when you start second-guessing yourself:
What if it doesn’t work?
What if they judge me or say bad things about me?
What if I look like an idiot.
No seriously, I might actually make a fool of myself!
Ahhhhhhh, Door #2. It smells like baked bread and it comes with a cozy blanket. Trouble is, the bread goes stale pretty fast and that blanket? It never seems to be enough.
There is a cost to pay when we skip those opportunities to Woman UP.
Like…
A dull ache of emptiness that never goes away, no matter how hard you try to cover it up.
No one, no thing can ever substitute for the loss you feel when you turn your back on your Self.
This is why we go unconscious.
We create stories that sound so lovely and pretty.
We tell ourselves we have a good life, we shouldn’t complain, we don’t need more.
We count our blessings, we don’t tempt the gods, and we surely don’t dare to expect more.
Lies, all lies. (But, I agree, they do sound so darn convincing, don’t they?)
We tell ourselves stories that allow us to avoid stepping up and facing our Self in the mirror and telling her the real truth: “Sorry honey, I just couldn’t come through for you. You just weren’t worth fighting for.”
Ugh. That cuts deep.
NOW, HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS: Awareness (consciousness) is all it takes to start to Woman UP.
When we become aware of the power of our two X-chromosomes we…
Start to feel a spark.
An inkling.
A “What if…?”
And then we think,
“Why not?”
And then…
“Hell no… I refuse to live with the no-good-rotten-lousy-bitter taste of regret in my mouth!”
Just in case it’s not clear, here is the real (brutal) cost (at the level of your soul) of not doing whatever it takes to live UP to your dreams:
You die a little each day when you’re supposed to be living.
C’mon, Girlfriend.
This is how we Woman UP.
