Celebrate your supporters
I think it was fairly hard to miss International Women’s Day last week.
This year the day seemed even more prominent than ever before and was all over social media in the lead up to and on the day itself. There were posts celebrating women from history, current day activists and also more personal appreciation for women who were important in an individual’s life.
good values to live by
The values on internationalwomensday.com that guide IWD are:
Justice
Dignity
Hope
Equality
Collaboration
Tenacity
Appreciation
Respect
Empathy
Forgiveness
To me, pretty good values to guide your life by generally.
Reading all the celebratory posts brought home to me again how important your support network can be. Men or women. It is easy to take them for granted, expect them to just be there. Yes, my closest friendships are with women but I have also had the opportunity to work with some great male coaches over the years who have really supported and encouraged me. My biggest supporter is my husband who has definitely seen me at my worst, best and everywhere in between in the 27 years we have been together!
Your supporters – your tribe – your squad – your group – whatever you want to call them are good for your health, give you a sense of belonging, increase your feelings of self-worth and so on.
They’re groups who you do not have to be strong in front of all the time, accept your quirks as you accept theirs, you can be honest with each other and trust that you have each other’s backs.
different groups of supporters
You most likely have more than one social network that may not necessarily interact with each other in different aspects of your life. With the increase in social media in recent years there are also groups on-line that can support in certain areas of your life; for example, there are groups I am a member of where I can share struggles and achievements regarding lifting and lifestyle – they’ll always be someone who gets what I’m saying and appreciates that feeling when you deadlift or squat heavier than you ever have before!
Not everyone you meet will “get you” and that’s fine – nothing wrong with them, nothing wrong with you. That fact just serves to emphasise the importance of the relationships when people do “get you”.
Celebrate them, appreciate them, cherish them…… maybe even tell them!