Monday, July 18, 2011

girl power

(via)

Thanks to the Spice Girls and growing up predominately in the late ’90s and early ’00s—I grew up in the throws of the girl power movement. Over the weekend, thanks to a team of hardcore soccer playing ladies, I had a total flashback girl power moment. Watching the World Cup Finals took me right back to 1999, when I was a wild 11-year-old and watching another team of amazing women win the World Cup trophy for our nation. I think you may recognize this picture—a poster size of it hung in my room for years after that moment.

Seeing another group of women from our country dominate during the tournament this year—playing a sport that doesn’t necessarily excite me otherwise, I was taken back to my 11-year-old self, cheering on a group of women I barely knew. I found myself wondering where all the girl power has gone.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but today men are the leaders we look to in almost every aspect of our lives—in politics, at church, in our homes, and even in sports. It’s easy to forget that we have entire generations of women who have come before us to offer up excellent examples of how to be independent and thriving leaders, too. And as they say, behind every great man there’s a great woman.

To think that each of those ladies playing their hearts out in the World Cup Finals have worked their whole lives leading up to that day on that field in Germany. It didn’t matter how old they were, it didn’t matter that one of them had been diagnosed with Lyme disease last December, or even that they weren’t even supposed to make it past their first round—they gave it their all and fought for what they wanted.

And that, is what girl power is all about.

What ladies do you look up to? I always think of Oprah, Princess Diana, Michelle Obama and my grandma when I need a little inspiration.

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