The Ripple Effect: Women Motivating Other Women
I received an email from my mom this morning saying how proud she was of me for running my first 10K. Then she said something that really got me thinking: “You are motivating many!” She went on by saying after I ran the race, it motivated her and two of her friends to run their first 5K (maybe even next weekend)! And that just felt incredible. The fact that a simple act like running a 10K can motivate other women (including my mom) to run their first race is absolutely amazing.
The funny thing is I had been motivated by my friend Megan to sign up for the race in the first place. She told me about it and I was weary at first (“Am I ready for this?” “Will I be able to finish it?”), but then I continued to be motivated by family members, friends and other women in the blogging community. Everyone had such inspirational, positive comments to say and that helped me pump myself up enough to finally sign up. I honestly don’t think I’d have gotten enough courage to go ahead and do it without all the wonderful support from others. You see, it’s a ripple effect of sort. Megan motivated me to even think about running a 10K, then other women continued to support my decision to sign up, and then once I finished the 10K my mom and her two friends are now motivated to complete their first race. It’s little baby steps like this that lead to big, big things and it’s such a wonderful chain of positivity.
It’s women motivating other women and that’s just plain beautiful. You see, it’s easy to get caught up in the ugly world of envy and jealousy. “She’s so much prettier than me…I’ll never look like that in my skinny jeans…I can’t believe she ran a half marathon…I’ll NEVER be able to do that…Ugh, she would get all the guys…it’s just not fair.” You hear these kinds of comments all of the time. But lately, I’ve been hearing and seeing women motivating other women in a positive way instead. Take the blogging and tweeting community alone. It’s amazing how many women are out there doing amazing things, and how much everyone can learn from one another. Whether it’s trying out a recipe you saw on another blogger’s website (and telling her how amazing it was), or being inspired by a woman who has come a long way in life (weight loss, a life revelation, etc.) women are inspiring women everywhere!
I even see it in my daily life with friends, family and people on the street. It makes me want to cry of joy sometimes because it’s just so amazing that women have finally gotten to that point where we can be inspired by one another, rather than jealous of one another’s pant size. I challenge you to find 10 women that inspire you today and go ahead and tell them that. Then you’ll start a ripple effect of your very own and watch how it blossoms into full force.
September 20th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Great positive message. Thanks for putting it out there. I’ve been fortunate to experience some of the same and look for ways i can support others – perhaps in small but meaningful ways.
September 21st, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Thanks Di! I am glad you enjoyed the post, and that’s exactly it; it’s the little things we do that help inspire others and then inspire us to do more!