A Letter To My Daughters... And Every Other Girl Out There:
1. You are beautiful! Nobody can take that from you! You are special and beautiful all on your own! You don't need make-up, You don't need jewelry, You don't need to show your body. I won't give you the speech about "God doesn't want you to show your body, Your body is a temple" While that is true, I want to get real: Showing your body attracts men. Nobody argues that. Here's the punch line; The men you attract while you show off your body are not the men you should be attracting. The men you attract by showing your body, will not be there once your body changes...and it will. Trust me. I met my husband while wearing a horribly unflattering maroon apron, my hair probably in a messy ponytail and wearing a number of unidentifiable food splatters on that wonderful maroon apron. To this day he says that sight took his breath away. I can guarantee older women are looking at you thinking "Oh dear... she doesn't get it" Maybe it's something that everyone has to go through, the revealing clothes stage, to realize "I don't need this!" " I don't need to wear this to be beautiful. I don't need to wear this to feel valuable." We all see the people posting the selfies with the boobies hangin out... We see it. We know what you are doing. It's desperate. It's not tasteful. It makes you look slutty. Slutty isn't something to be proud of. So, woman to woman, Adult to tweenager, stop it. Just stop.
2. Stand up for yourself. Don't let anyone push you around. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. You can do anything you set your mind to.
3. Learn that you don't need a man. Be self sufficient. Don't be with a guy because you feel you need to be. Don't be with a guy to make you feel good. Men are human, Men let us down. They hurt us. When you put your whole being into a man and he hurts you, you'll crumble. Don't let yourself crumble! This is not said to emasculate men and I can hear the chorus now "You need to show your man you need him!!!" Yes! You do!! But don't have him be your whole being! I am not with my husband because I -need- him. I am with him because I -want- him. I don't rely on him for complete emotional health. I don't rely on him to support me, while that is the role he is taking now, there will be times in the future where I may be pulling the weight in regards to income. I'm with him because I want to be. Not because I have to be.
4. Learn to change the oil. Not just the oil but learn to change a tire and learn to run a lawn mower. Learn to fix a sink (Yes I know how to fix sink pipes!). Learn to do "man jobs" Not because I was an Army wife... Not because I'm a feminist (sayy wwwhhhhhatt?) I know how to do all that because I may need the knowledge. What if I'm at home and a pipe under the sink bursts and my husband is at work. Do I call him? Honey come home!!!! In his line of work that isn't going to happen. Do I run around to neighbors until I find one to help me?! I could just fix it. Chances are I can have the water off and pipe fixed, or at the very least, mended and not spewing water all over my floor, before I could find help. It's not being a feminist. It's not to emasculate my husband. It's practical!!!
5. Learn to manage money. Money makes the world go 'round. Learn how to use it..smartly.
6. Find a man who treats you right. Who is respectful and kind and has the same values as you. Who doesn't belittle or hit you. Who treats you as a woman and not a "thing". Don't settle for someone who doesn't treat you right just because you think all the good men are gone. They aren't. Maybe if you can't find a good man, you aren't looking in the right spot. If all else fails, be okay with being alone!
7. Respect yourself. As a student, sister, mother, aunt.. whatever you are. Respect yourself. If you respect yourself, others will too!
8. What you put online comes back to haunt you. Facebook, twitter, Instagram... whatever you post comes back to you! Watch what you put on the internet. You never know who you may meet up with or interview with for a job, and what they will find online. Employers can google. They can find you on Facebook. On another note, What you put on the internet can either hurt or help your husbands (Future husband) career. We, as women, hold such power. What we say and do can affect our men in their jobs.
Let's share a little story..completely made up.. Susie talks crap on her boyfriends boss on Facebook. Susie is friends, unbeknownst to her, with her boyfriends' bosses' sister... Said sister knows this... This doesn't look good for Susie's boyfriend, huh?
Another Susie (different Susie, I'm just not creative enough to come up with another generic name) posts nakey boobie shots on Instagram... Susies Husband has a boss... Susies' husbands boss googles... Do we see what Boss Man now knows...
Bottom line: What we do as wives or girlfriends can either put a positive light or a negative light on our husbands. You may not want to believe it, but what we do can either hurt or help our men. That's the power we have! The things we say or do, the way we act in public, they all come back to us. You may not realize it now but everybody knows everybody. It's a small world! Don't think you're anonymous just because you're on the internet. Shine a good light on your man. They'll thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment