by Adele Alfano
Everywhere we look and read today, it is about our climate change and global warming. Especially we are constantly hearing about our individual environmental footprint. What we leave behind with our personal carbon dioxide that is emitted from our daily lives: our cars, the energy used to power our home and the products we consume. Our climate is changing and that was a grim reality when last week while watching the news, it snowed in Athens and the Acropolis was covered. As a person who has visited the Acropolis and experienced the dry, arid sand and air…it was hard to believe.
But true!
The bright side of this knowledge is that we are also starting to believe that individuals can make a difference. This year has marked an unprecedented growth in women and their development of their own businesses! This has also been a jubilant year for first-time women leaders elected in politically male-dominated countries such as Chile, South America and Liberia, Africa. These are triumphant moments of women’s progress in two countries in opposite ends of the world. We have taken such monumental strides in our progress as women in the arenas of business, politics, entertainment and science…to name a few!
Much like a fossil, our footprints will only survive the test of time by recognizing that we are women of substance:
S – supporting each other in all our endeavors and achievements ( eg. Gloria Steinem)
U- understanding our own uniqueness ( eg. Madonna)
B – breaking down existing boundaries (eg. Margaret Thatcher)
S – setting your personal barometer alittle higher than average (eg. Marie Currie)
T – trailblazing your path and leaving a legacy (eg. Cleopatra)
A – architects of our own history (eg. every women who have shed their burquas)
N – not accepting the standard norm (eg. Rosa Parks)
C – cultivating ourselves and not feeling guilty over it (eg. Oprah)
E – elevating each other with respect and dignity (eg. Mother Teresa)
A woman of substance represents supporting each other, understanding our own uniqueness while accepting others, breaking down existing limitations and boundaries, setting our goals above average, marking our own paths, making our own histories, questioning what is the standard norm, cultivating and harvesting ourselves to be the best that we can be and above all elevating each other and ourselves with respect and dignity.
About the author: NOMINATED FOR CANADA’S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN, Canada’s Diamond Coach Adele Alfano “The Speaker with a Spark” is an Inspirational Keynoter, Seminar Leader, Best-Selling Publisher and Author. Learn more at www.AdeleAlfano.com
