I watched a wonderful documentary this week about Ruth Bader Ginsburg also known as “the Notorious RBG.” I also read numerous comments about notable women due to International Women’s day falling on Monday this past week. There are certainly some inspirational women that we have as role models. I would not limit this to women either, there are also very inspirational men. How many times do we, men or women, look up to these inspirational figures and the look to ourselves and find ourselves lacking? This discussion is not about honoring any certain person, but rather how to stay grateful and not succumb to feelings of unworthiness when you see all these inspirational figures.
I do love hearing stories of successful people, men or women. Especially those that are successful in my areas of interest or my career field. The trouble with these stories, and what many people suffer from, is comparing your own accomplishments to those we read about and finding yourself lacking. That is the exact opposite of the intent of most of these stories. We should instead be using these stories to lift ourselves up and be grateful for what they have accomplished. The instant we start to compare is when we lose ourselves.
The whole point in hearing these inspirational stories is to give us something to strive toward or to even realize, hey, I have done that too! Maybe not on as grand of a scale, but that should not be the focus. We need to be able to read these stories and keep our focus on how wonderful that achievement is and focus on the gratitude for that person paving the way whether we are following the same path or just a path similar in nature.
We can also use any of these inspirational figures to help us determine what we are grateful for in our lives. Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for equality for men and women. She argued a case for men to be able to be primary caregivers as well as husbands to receive dependent allowance from the military. She argued to protect pregnant women in the workplace and that women should serve on juries. This is just a small sampling of the work she had done. Using any example of what she has done for men and/or women, think of some items in your life that you can be grateful for based on her accomplishments. It does not have to be a direct result of something she did either. Perhaps it is simply a challenge that she had to overcome that you have been blessed with not having to face.
I use Ruth Bader Ginsburg simply as an example. There are numerous role models out there that may have more relevance to your experiences. Take this opportunity to learn more about that person’s life, trials, and tribulations. Do not use those to necessarily compare but to find gratitude in all that they have done that perhaps relates to you be able to strive for your goals. Maybe not even your goals, but something that you are grateful for in your life. Even if it is silly, like the seat warmers in my car. Such a first world novelty, but I am incredibly grateful for whomever invented those warmers for my toosh. Large or small, finding gratitude and being grateful for anyone’s accomplishments helps to improve our output which will improve our input.
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