I appreciate extraordinary women and the impact they’ve had on my motherhood journey with my own two daughters. My relationship with women throughout my life has changed as I have gotten older and more reflective of my childhood. Frankly put, I do not have a relationship with my mother, and that shaped my early relationships with other women. As I have grown up, become a mother, and evolved with a full career in a female-dominated industry, my appreciation for women has also grown.
I am not a person who blames what has happened to me for who I have become nor how I act or react towards others. Sure, everything that happens to a person shapes who they are, but I believe everyone 100% controls their reactions to what they come across in life. I have had amazing friendships that are going on 20+ years, I had an awful bullying experience at work after coming back from maternity leave that caused me to quit my job, and to this day, I appreciate women up close and from afar.
Appreciating Women in the Workplace
My career in events is mostly run by female-dominated businesses. I have worked with women who really care about helping others and want to see other women succeed. At the same time, I have worked with the complete opposite, those women who will step over anyone to get to where they want to be, and instead of raising up strong women they will push them down and bully them.
As someone who has experienced being bullied in the workplace by a female supervisor and then ultimately leaving my job, I definitely appreciate women in the workplace more now than ever before. I truly appreciate and respect those women who pick each other up on the good and the bad days. I appreciate the women who are not only supportive of myself and other colleagues but those who do what they say they are going to do and are good people to work with. It is not about being right or fair, but about being a good human to others.
I appreciate working with and for women who appreciate and respect others. Regardless of their position, rank, age, or experience. Those women who are strong and confident enough to help others out without feeling threatened or on guard. At the end of the day we are all in this together and just because you may help someone else get ahead in their career or teach them everything they know doesn’t mean that there isn’t a spot for you as well. Knowing this, I appreciate those women who are willing to teach others what they know and help them because that helps everyone do better and get better.
Lastly, I appreciate being appreciated by fellow women with whom I work. Regardless if they report to me or I report to them, everyone wants to feel appreciated and know they are appreciated. It doesn’t seem like a big deal until you are not appreciated and feel as if you can be replaced at any second. That does not make anyone want to put their best self out there and will make them guarded and underperform.
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Women Friends For Life
We moved around a lot when I was younger, so I never really had a chance to develop those early childhood relationships that last a lifetime. I appreciate it when I see women that have had friends since grade school or even younger. Those friends that have seen all the parts of you, from childhood when you just wanted to be a grown-up, to the awkward adolescent years and thought you knew everything, to the adult years when you had to fake it till you made it.
The women friends that you meet can be friends for life, they can grow and develop with you, loving you through the struggles, and the ups and downs in life from love, to careers, babies, and everything in between. Those are the women I appreciate more than any others. We have all had friends that you just grow apart from for various reasons. I have definitely had more of those friends than not, nothing against either of us, just sometimes friends are not meant to last a lifetime.
There are a handful of friends, I know will still be around in my retirement years. The friends that I appreciate for being there even if we haven’t talked in six months. Or maybe I forgot their birthday one year…The friends that if you call and say “I need to talk”, listen and give you the advice or the words you need to hear. I appreciate those friends more than I can put into words.
Over the years of relationships, marriage, babies, juggling careers, and trying to have friends on the side is easier said than done. Friends that understand that life keeps moving along and that just because you may have not called recently or forgot a birthday doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate them. It just means you appreciate them that much more when you do get together and are able to have that quality time you desire, but just may not have the capacity for.
Read More: Mom Friends: The Constant Struggle To Find Adult Friendship As A Mom
Appreciating The Women We Don’t Know
I appreciate so many women that I have never met and some that whom I had just a brief encounter with. As a mom, I try really hard to go out of my way to appreciate the moms that make me feel like a better mom and help me be a better mom. The ones who give sage advice when you ask for it and keep their opinions to themselves. It is easy to judge another person, especially when you have no idea what their situation is and what they are dealing with.
Motherhood has made me appreciate other moms who get that and understand that even though we may seem as if we are in the same exact situation, they most likely have no idea what we are going through. No one knows how much sleep you got last night or the stubborn child you just fought to leave the house.
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Recently I had a really bad cross-country flight with my two-year-old, a fellow mom went out of her way to say the kindest words to me. Even on a crowded plane, with a child on top of me, my husband across the aisle, I felt totally alone till that woman came up to me. She didn’t have to get out of her seat and talk to me, I never got her name but I will never forget her. I appreciate her more than she will ever know because at one of the lowest points in my motherhood journey she told me it was okay and I was doing a good job, despite my feeling the complete opposite.
I once heard that if you were to meet yourself when you were 20 years younger, you would not recognize your own self. Not because of looks but because of how much we change and evolve in our lifetime. We are all constantly changing, hopefully for the better, striving to be the person we want to be as we live our lives and deal with the ever-changing world around us. Learning to appreciate those around us, not only makes you a better person but instills kindness and benefits our future generations as well.
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