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March 2002, Issue 3
Take a few moments to think about how truly powerful you are. Can you see your incredible power?
We as women have amazing personal power…unlimited potential for growth, achievement, leadership…WHATEVER WE DREAM…but we must first be able to find the power within ourselves. We cannot use what we cannot see.
A few weeks ago my friend Erika and I went to see Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. Secretary of State, at the Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver. As Ms. Albright spoke, her power was almost tangible, an aura of confidence and grace shining around her. This amazing woman has enjoyed success as the highest ranking female in U.S. government because she found her passion in life and pursued it, worked her tail off through thick and thin, and because she found and exercised her own personal power. She was not afraid of rejection because she defined success in her own terms. She gave herself permission to be powerful and that opened the door of opportunity.
I think most GIRLS don’t recognize their own power. They don’t know what it looks like; they forget how it feels.
The Olympic figure skater, Michelle Kwan comes to mind. She is a success of the greatest proportions. She’s won countless awards, including a silver metal at the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Her name, talent, and ability are widely known and respected. She is a champion in the full sense of the word. But, do you think she truly feels like a champion? As I watched her accept the bronze metal at this year’s Olympics, tears were in her eyes. It seemed she felt a failure because the gold metal had eluded her yet again. Perhaps she was so focused on someone else’s definition of success that she failed to see and appreciate all she really had achieved. We should all hope to find something in life that fills us with such passion and drive, but we should also remember that no one gives us power and a feeling of success. We give it to ourselves.
For me, realizing that life is not a competition was a first step in starting to find personal power. A habit of comparison and competition often left me feeling frustrated and jealous. I realized we can never win at everything and thus are bound to struggle until we define success on our own terms. Learning to appreciate myself and the gifts I have to offer, naturally opened the door for a deeper appreciation of others. We are all so different and have unique callings in life. I must remind myself that climbing to the top of the heap does not bring power and success. We are powerful because we choose to be. We can (and should) love, support, and push each other to find that in life which fills each of us with joy…to fully embrace our personal power and live our best lives!
I hope you enjoy this GIRLS letter. I love putting it together and your ideas and feedback are blessings in my life. Please keep sending your contributions; what speaks to you will speak to others!
Live! Laugh! Love!
Celeste Palermo
“Power is the first good.” ---Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I envision a world full of Power-Full women who KNOW IT and ACT from it. Imagine the miracles we can create.” ----SARK
THE GARDEN
(Author Unknown)FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING,
PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
1. Peas of mind
2. Peas of heart
3. Peas of soulPLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishnessPLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one anotherNO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one anotherTO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN,
WE MUST HAVE THYME:
1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends.
Happiness in the Details“Happiness hides in life’s small details. If you’re not looking, it becomes invisible.”
---Joyce BrothersIt is so easy to forget to look for all the joy life has to offer. When we do take a moment to appreciate the little things, the colors of the world are brighter!
A few weeks ago I flew to New Mexico for a meeting early the next day. It was late at night and I was feeling tired, both mentally and physically. When I walked up to my rent-a-car, it only had two miles on it! What a fun surprise…It was happiness in the details!
Peyton loves to climb in the bath with me during my night–time wind down. While I have to cool the water so she can get in and set aside my reading material, she teaches me how to make “bubble pie” and other bubble delicacies that I never knew existed. More happiness in the details!
Where have you found happiness in the details of day-to-day life? Share your stories for an upcoming GIRLS letter!
NOT A DRESS REHERSALThe events of September 11th linger in the back of our minds as a constant reminder that all bets are off. In fact, in this hot political climate our day-to-day security seems an issue. We listen to the news warning us to be “alert” for another possible terrorist attack , yet we are told to go about “business as usual.”
They searched my bag at the airport today. A stranger’s hands, gloved in protective latex, rummaged through my dirty underwear, tennis shoes, contact solution, and curling iron. Do I look like a terrorist?
I’ve been to three funerals in the past six months. Two of these amazing souls, seem to have been taken before their time. I know God has a plan for us, but I struggle to understand.
My point? There are no guarantees in life. Well, we knew that. But, how easily we can forget, sinking into the safety of our daily routines, stuck in the comfortable. We need to live now! To take risks, live passionately, love wildly, forgive. While we must plan for a long life (keep our jobs and invest in our 401K), we must live our life to the fullest now.
In keeping with our daily obligations, we can only do so much, but little acts can affect big change. For me, making a conscious choice not to focus on the negative is one thing I am trying to do. Believe me, I have my days…but I’ve found if I try to be optimistic all of the time, I achieve it more of the time than not.
I am writing this because it is foremost in my mind right now. I don’t know anything more than anyone else, but I do know that we only get one shot at life…and this is it. Let’s take more trips with friends, reach for goals we thought were out of range, kiss more, laugh more, stretch our boundaries and say “YES” to people and activities that enrich our lives!
“No matter how dry and tame and nice we live, we will die. We will also suffer along the way. Living wildly is its own reward.” ----SARK
“Every passing moment is another chance…” ----Author Unknown
Quotes To Think AboutGIRLFRIENDS
This is an excerpt from an e-mail most of you have probably seen and many of you have sent me for this letter.
Author Unknown
Here is what I know about girlfriends: Girlfriends don’t compete. Girlfriends bring casseroles and scrub your bathroom when you are sick. Girlfriends keep your children, and keep your secrets. Girlfriends give advise when you ask for it. Sometimes you take it, sometimes you don’t. Girlfriends don’t always tell you that you’re right, but they are always honest. Girlfriends still love you even when they don’t agree with your choices. Girlfriends might send you a birthday card, or they might not. It does not matter in the least. Girlfriends laugh with you and you don’t need canned jokes to start the laughter. Girlfriends don’t talk about you behind your back. Girlfriends pull you out of jams. Girlfriends don’t keep a calendar that lets them know who hosted the other last. Girlfriends will give a party for your son or daughter when they get married or have a baby, in whichever order that comes! And girlfriends are there for you, in an instant and truly, when the hard times come. Girlfriends listen when you lose a job or a husband. Girlfriends listen when your children break your heart. Girlfriends listen when your parents minds and bodies fail.
My girlfriends bless my life…..
Get yourself some girlfriends. You are going to need them.Words to think about…
“If you have no purpose, you have no passion.”…
“In a passionless life superficiality becomes the substitute for things that ought to matter…. If you are committed to nothing, if you believe in nothing, including yourself, you can be led and suckered into anything. You are uniquely equipped for a mission in this world and to fail to recognize and commit to finding that mission and then achieving it is to wither in mind, body, and spirit. You cannot play the game of life trying not to lose, trying to play it safe. You must live to win; however, you may personally define “winning.” To do otherwise is to deny who you are.”
---Phillip McGraw, PHD, Self Matters, pg. 12-13“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe one of two things will happen: There will be something solid for you to stand upon, or, you will be taught how to fly.”
----Patrick Overton, from Rebuilding the Front Porch of America