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Strong is Beautiful

                                                  
Amazing Race Canada is over for another season. The winners were two female wrestlers, Katie and Taylor. They won in their own hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. They were the second all female team that have won Amazing Race. Their manta and message to young girls was, "Strong is Beautiful". They wanted to prove to girls, especially girls in male dominated sports that the sky is the limit, anything is possible. 

I had a revelation in Penticton at the festival. I realized that we have no measure of our strength until we compete. Competing doesn't always mean winning, it means pushing yourself past limits you never thought you could. The wrestlers were an example of pushing themselves to go from nearly being eliminated to winning the show.
I love the following descriptors of woman that are emotionally and physically strong. I feel today's young women have more of these characteristics as opposed to the way it used to be. 

Strong women:
1. Are courageous, they are not afraid, they face challenges and stand up for themselves.
2. Don't depend on others. They take on the responsibility for their own emotional and physical well-being.
3. Knows who she is, they love themselves no matter what.
4. Builds others up. They show unconditional love and support to others.
5. They are not afraid to show their emotions and never consider them as a weakness. 
6. Follow their own intuition and don't overthink everything. 
7. Are truly happy and know what makes them happy. Happiness comes from positive mental strength.
8. Owns her successes and believes in herself.
9. Doesn't let the opinions of others influence her; she has ability to bounce back.
10. Don't feel bad about breaking social rules or reinventing herself. Rules don't apply to strong women. 
11. A strong and beautiful woman will continually work at being a better, stronger strong women. Progress not perfectionist. They know they have to face their fears and step up to the plate. 
                                      
Every woman is strong, women endure in so many ways. I believe the most powerful demonstration of a woman's strength is having a baby. Followed by months of no sleep, sick baby and the list goes on. I have heard women say they changed how they feel about themselves after giving birth, they realized how powerful and strong they truly are.  

I have come to a new understanding; you are only as strong as you push yourself to be. I am not good at pushing myself. When I got back from Penticton, I decided I needed to put more effort into the gym. I decided I was changing my mind thought of, "I just want to be strong" to, "I am going to be as strong as I can be". Lifting now has a new meaning.  

I really love the saying, "Strong is Beautiful". As women age, and retirement arrives, being strong is paramount. Being strong emotionally is something I think comes more naturally as we age. We start to believe in who we are and what we want. Being physically strong, is another story. I certainly noticed when I retired how sedentary I became. That is not the case now, but at the time I could see my strength just leaving my body. I decided I needed to turn that around. 

After reading this post, I hope you have taken on a new belief for yourself, strong is beautiful. Being strong mentally, physically and emotionally is a lot of work, but work well worth it. As women we need to be strong and stay strong, remember the sky is the limit, anything is possible!!!







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