One Woman Can Change the Narrative

Mary Kay Ash reached through spacetime and flipped a switch, changing the economic narrative for women all over the world. If' you're at all familiar with Mary Kay, you know this is true. The company is beginning its 50th year of Enriching Women's Lives with a campaign called "One Woman Can", urging consultants to discover what is our "One Woman Can". 

Hundreds of women, just like me have changed the narrative for their families, relationships, and futures. One woman can change the narrative of her life. One woman can change the narrative of the beauty industry and make TRUE BEAUTY accessible to everyone, not just those who feel they are conventionally attractive (cuz it's what you are like, not what you look like, thank you Madeline L'Engle). One woman can change the narrative of other women around the world, and touch the lives of people she will never even meet. One woman can teach women how to teach their children not to fight; influencing future generations and making peace where it never seemed possible before, and therefore changing their own narratives.

My beginning is my beginning, but today I can work to create a whole new ending. One woman can reach into the future and flip a switch that gives choices and opportunities to millions. I don't think many people who aren't in Mary Kay really realize how gigantic this company is, and how many lives are changed because one woman dreamed a dream, and it turned into a reality in more than 34 markets all over the world. One woman can take the nightmares of children who haven't been born yet and turn them into dreams of success and prosperity.

One woman can change the narrative. Her narrative. That of her family. That of her friends. The narrative that is hurting people she loves, and people she doesn't know. The narrative that holds others back. The narrative that excuses bullying and abuse. The narrative that encourages closed-mindedness and bigotry. It takes diligence, hard work, and absolute stubbornness, but knowing that it's already been done means that it's possible; that one woman can.

In other words: your leaders are all saying the same things in different languages

Reading the first chapter of a book written by a Christian pastor brought me around to my favorite Hebrew prayer (the Hebrew itself is in the top left, with an artful English translation below). After some amount of thought, I came into the full realization that my director, my professional leaders, and my rabbis are all saying the same thing. It had been a thought for a while, but the fact of the matter is, g-d is coming through both of these two avenues inspiring me to lead an extraordinary life. 

Divinely inspired words are filtered through the language and concept centers of the brains of the people who write them down. The ideas often sound different when you first hear them; they sound like they oppose one another because they come out of practices which, at some times, actually do oppose each other. However, truly holy words can be translated back into the language of g-d and speak into the hearts of a great plurality of people. 

In other words: your leaders are all saying the same thing in different languages. Isn't it time to listen already, get congruent, and get to work?

Probably. More to come...

I got a present...

I was expecting this, but I didn't expect it to be so pretty...

It says "Congratulations! YOu touch the hearts of many and reach to
achieve your dreams. Please wear this in recognition of your success
that brightly beams!"

Happy Anniversary! "You can reach any goal you want to reach.
Believe in yourself." - Mary Kay Ash

ENTHUSIASM!

I turned my office door into a goal poster, and hung on
the corner my Business Hat. Each of those flamingos is
a person whose life I'm going to change this year. My
assistant deserves credit for helping draw and cut these
wing-guys out.

For some reason, I have a lot of trouble typing "enthusiasm". Every time I try, my fingers think it starts with a "t", which is pretty bizarre but I appreciate their zeal* for the word. I, likewise, have been putting a great deal of enthusiasm into goal-poster-ing my entire house... or at least my office. There are now flamingos literally in all corners of my office (okay, not the literal corners, however, each wall has at least 2), and "All That Glitters is Gold" goal posters all over the place. I tried to keep it from being too overwhelming for The Emperor's sake, but I think he would get over it if I really did blanket the house in "I'm gonna do this, this, and this, by this date, this date, and this date" (if only to call me on it and make sure it was getting done). 

*Thesaurus. I has one.

The thing about goal posters is that they remind you visually, (and I'm an incredibly visual person; see Art Degree), what you're working for. Why you're putting your feet on the floor in the morning. I've heard some tips about taping your goal paycheck to the ceiling above your bed (and since I've got comically over-sized checks, I might do just that, and put a flamingo next to it), and the other advice has been "trash your house with goal posters". I took 2-ish days off to make those goal posters, and I'm not quite done (since I had to go and make them all artistic collages, not just scribbles on a piece of cardstock -- which is not an invalid option), but I've spent quite a bit of time in vision-mode so that I can do just a little of it everyday after I've completed the project and be affirmed everyday.

I'm coming to realize more and more the importance of affirmations, both heard and seen. I've always been the kind of person who sees cues from the Universe in everyday life, and I've always been the kind of person who takes those cues, whether I do it consciously or not. The thing about affirmations as a deliberate activity done in work toward a goal, is that this activity creates a cue in the Universe. Now, whether you believe in the Law of Attraction, or Quantum Entanglement, what you think about, you bring about. Creating a cue in the Universe gives the people who are looking for you, the people you are looking for, the opportunity to follow that cue to your doorstep. Of course there is action required to make these cues meaningful (and I know cynics would argue that that means that affirmations are bunk), but one is arguably more apt to take action when reminded on a minute-to-minute basis that one has things to do, people to reach, and lives to change.

So what if it's weird. The mere fact that I have 30 flamingo silhouettes on the door of my office means that I'm going to make those flamingos mean something more than decoration. Elsewise, in 6 months, I'll embarassedly remove them from my home and try to pretend I never reached so high. Which is a pretty bleak thought, and I would rather not have to face that moment when I take down those flamingos in defeat. I shudder to think about it, even. Ew. What kind of cues does that produce in the Universe?

Certainly not ones of enthusiasm.

"The true reward for a job well done is the ability gained to do even better." - SNSD Rebecca Evans

Mary Kay Ash would tell us that she had the most scarred up knees in the room, because she fell down so many times; more than anyone else. She'd shoot for something, miss, fall down, and get back up. And I'll bet she never broke down and hid under her desk crying because she missed it, either. (Actually, she probably did, everyone does that sometimes.) That's the thing though, she failed A LOT. Anyone who achieves anything will probably have a much higher failure rate than a person who didn't achieve. It's called "failing up". 

A few years ago, I thought this idea was completely ridiculous. However, as I have matured and begun attempting to achieve things that required more effort than simply showing up, I have begun failing on a fairly regular basis. It can be very upsetting, especially when I put my heart and soul into something (which is not something I have been known to do in the past), and still am not able to achieve it because I didn't see what I was capable of until it was too late to marshal enough resources to complete that task. That's what stings the most, when you can see it, but you realize you neglected to build up the momentum because you refused to believe yourself capable of that level of commitment until it was in sight. 

This guy didn't get it right the first
time either.

But that's the whole motto of my future unit:

Strive for a goal, believing yourself able to achieve it before the evidence appears;

Overcome the obstacles, both those inside your head and outside in your environment;

Achieve the ability to do even better the next time

REPEAT

As I was huddled under my desk this morning, weeping, The Emperor told me I just need to rinse and repeat a few more times. And that's just it, when you miss a goal, all that means is that you need to rinse and repeat a few more times. You are capable of more, you just didn't realize it in time. But when you fall on the way to achieving something you've never done before (because you were willing to put in effort and commitment you never had previously), your belief grows and you instantly become capable of more. 

It's the same when you meet a goal: you instantly become capable of more, and no one can take that from you, because as Rebecca Evans taught us this week, the true reward for a job well done is the ability gained to do even better. The most important part of soaring is not achieving the altitude of gliding above the clouds: it's the take-off; it's the trying again when you fall down; it's knowing that you are a creature who is meant to fly and giving it all your heart and soul no matter what else is going on. 

You are worthy and good whether you make it or not. You are loved no matter how hard you try. The love and belief that surround you are fires that won't and can't be extinguished. A person's value is not tied to their income or achievements, it is inherent in your being because of what you come from (divinity). If we, you and I, use that as a jumping off point and remind ourselves daily that we have each been shown a dream as a promise from g-d, we may get closer to our goals next time. We will do better tomorrow because of how hard we worked yesterday. 

More importantly, you will NEVER be able to coach someone through their own failures if you never fail yourself. "You cannot lead where you do no go; you cannot teach what you do not know."

Why 135% Never Feels Like Enough

Disclaimer: This entry is about the genesis of an idea and is very long. The idea is that effort leads to criticism, while slacking off is rewarded. I am not making excuses or laying blame. I am exploring my history. Comments on this post will be tightly screened.