“Sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down.” — Kobi Yamada
If you look around on any given day, you will see a marvelous woman. She is in the car next to you at a stoplight. She is the bus driver opening the door to the bus as you send your children off to school. She is the server at your favorite restaurant. She is the manager at your favorite boutique. She works the checkout at Wal*Mart. She is your grandmother making waffles as she has done every Saturday as long as you can remember. She is the florist, doctor, manicurist, lawyer, hairdresser, photographer. She is your mother, your sister, your friend. She is you.
What is her secret? What is yours? Is there is a secret potion to buy? Is there a drug to take (besides coffee)? Is there a special concoction to drink?
No. She is simply a woman who gets up every day, does her very best, and shares the best of herself with those around her.
You will find love, laughter, joy, great passion, femininity, strength, curiosity, a sense of adventure, a nurturer, a drill sergeant, and a lady inside the heart of a marvelous woman.
So what does it take to lead a “Marvelous!” life?
One word…courage.
I saw a poster recently that said, “Beautiful things don’t just happen. If you want something marvelous, you’ve got to make something marvelous.”
Easier said than done…right? Wrong.
Every day is a choice. From the attitude you choose to put on as soon as your eyes flutter open to the thoughts you allow your mind to rest on throughout the day, to the words you use and the smiles you share (or not).
Being marvelous, quite simply, is a state of mind…of our own choosing.
Think back to the last great day you remember. Why was it great?
When I started writing again in 2011, it was as a result of a suggestion from a wonderful man in my life who advised me to do something for me. For me?! What a concept. A woman, in general, spends a great deal of time doing a lot of somethings for others. So to be given encouragement…dare I say permission…to “take a swim in Lake Me” for a little while, whenever the mood struck, and simply write, for me, well, it was jaw dropping in its simplicity.
What I have found over the last 11 and a half months is that the tiny amount of time I spend writing each day has become the greatest (by sheer volume) release valve I have in my wheelhouse.
And that is the lesson.
A woman can live her life as a canal (quickly filled and then emptied) or as a reservoir (full and giving only of her excess). The concept of giving of her excess amounts to giving the very best of herself to all of those around her.
Read that again…giving the VERY best of her.
My writing has allowed me to fill and maintain my reservoir during a year that gave me a health crisis, a new job, a new city, new dreams, loss and challenges I could not have imagined just one year ago. It has also given me the opportunity to spend a great deal of time with marvelous women who inspire, challenge, love, and give to me of their own reservoirs. They remind me that as women, we have choices, options, and voices. They speak to my heart, and they make me stronger.
There are marvelous women all around us urging us on through an often unspoken solidarity. They are our grandmothers, adopted mothers, the amazing teller at the bank, the leader of a non-profit, the rock-star loan officer, the fabulous editor, the patient teacher, the amazing manager, the checkout lady with the big smile, and the future Marvelous Woman who looks back at us through the gleaming eyes of a three-year-old who has an entire marvelous life ahead of her.
We have a voice. Whether by birth or divine intervention…we have a voice.
We represent the dreams of those who came before us, and the sacrifices they made.
We represent the little girls who will come after us, with the gleam always present in their eyes.
Thank you to the women who sacrificed so that we can sit here today with a buffet of options in front of us, not always knowing which path/road/choice to take.
Choices. Options. Voices.
When I was in school, I was asked to sing a solo at a choir concert. I sang “The Rose,” and although I was no Bette Midler, the opportunity changed me. The words have stayed with me. Even today, they ring in my ear…
“Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed
That with the sun’s love
In the spring
Becomes the rose….”
There will always be winters in our lives, but it is the hope of spring, and the seed buried deep within, that drive us to become the rose, to fulfill our potential…our destiny.
…and therein lies the heart of a Marvelous Woman.
M! Feb/Mar 2012
Deb Smith
What an inspiring commentary, Deb. Thank you so much for your growth, your persistence, and your ability to share with us. I am so glad you are writing again. You truly have a lot to say.