Beloved Old Hollywood actress Judy Garland once told her daughter Liza Minnelli to, "Be a first-rate version of yourself and not a second-rate version of someone else."
The above statement remains one of my favorite life quotes. I've held these words near-and-dear to my heart most of my life, making a conscious decision to break the mold of what society says I should be. I've been determined to remain authentic to who I am. Of course, the journey hasn't been easy, but I'm appreciative of the process and the things I've learned along the way.
As women, we are expected to be a certain body type, fit a certain standard of beauty, and think a certain way. We are expected to be amiable, non-controversial, and go-with-the-flow so to speak. More times than not, when women express themselves in a way that goes against the status quo, they are ridiculed, criticized, or ostracized.
Women have so much to offer to the world - variant perspectives, intelligence, style, gifts and talents. Women add value to the world - excelling in academia, sports and other careers across a wide spectrum. We women can do anything we set our minds to -- and with excellence!
Ladies: Don't get discouraged when others put you in a box or expect you to be a "better version" of someone else. The truth is, you can't be. You can only be who you were born to be - authentic and uniquely you. Psalm 139:13-14 says it best:
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made"
Make a daily, personal commitment to improve yourself and be 'first-rate' in all that you do! Don't waste your time trying to be someone else. The result will be exhaustion, disappointment, and unhappiness.
Just be yourself. After all: "Everyone else is already taken."
Need motivation or encouragement? Check out I Am Des Taylor on Amazon.com,
Books-A-Million, and Barnes & Noble!
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