It’s International Women’s Day! Today we bring awareness to the accomplishments, the challenges, the amazing feats that women have managed to accomplish despite sometimes insurmountable barriers.

I haven’t written a post in a while, and this morning, I saw some of my sisters’ posts online and got inspired to contribute as well. #ChoosetoChallenge is the theme this year. I had to google it to see what it was all about.

#ChoosetoChallenge is a call to action to challenge gender inequality and bias. https://www.internationalwomensday.com/2021Theme

If you take this at face value, the intent is to raise awareness that women are not being treated as equals. Women are treated with bias.

You’re Missing the Boat

If you think that’s only what it is, you’re missing the boat. It’s more than that. I refuse to say that raising awareness is enough, or that it even makes anything better. If anything, it just points out a problem. Great. Now what?

Albert Einstein once said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that you can’t solve a problem at the same consciousness level as the problem. In order to solve a problem, one must rise above the problem.

How do we Rise Above #ChoosetoChallenge?

Hey, before y’all get offended and say ‘how dare you rise above #ChoosetoChallenge?’ or ‘what makes you think you’re above #ChoosetoChallenge?’ I submit to you this. Rise above the awareness of the problem, and take action.

This is the real message.

Seldom do we read between the lines. It occurs to me that the real message is to take action and make a stand FOR what you can do to make you, or the women in your life seen. It’s a call to stand up for women and girls who may or may not be in a society where they are denied even basic rights to education, to have the freedom of choice.

It’s a call to lead. And it doesn’t matter where you are. Even in some of the ‘free-est’ countries, there are those who struggling to voice their own song.

#ChoosetoChallenge is a call to action to reach out and lift someone to such that they can have the opportunity shine.

Today, I invite you to think of those in your circle. You might usually just walk past them without giving them any acknowledgement. Send out your energy, be it in the form of an email, a phone call, a warming thought, a healing vibe. Send it out with the intention to lift and encourage the most invisible person in the room. Create the opportunity for her to shine.

May you make a positive difference in someone’s life today.

Cat.