The power and beauty in saying YES

Yes, I will.  Yes, I can.  Yes.

I've been conducting a little experiment with myself in the last few weeks.  It's a challenge for me because I am an introvert by nature.  'Yes' is not my default  I weigh carefully how long it will take me to recover from any instances of 'putting myself out there' and whether the circumstances in my week allow time and space for that recovery

Some fantastic (and frankly fantastical) things have come out of the experiment.  For example, being interviewed as a 'Badass Woman of Tucson'.  I have a pretty healthy self esteem, but I never saw that coming.

As it turns out, saying yes is more than just a short term experiment for me.  The truth is, even though 'yes' is not my default... when I reflect on the many adventures I had in my life,  they all began because I said yes to something that was out of my comfort zone.  Lately, somehow I have been a little stingy with my yes.  Hence my experiment to re-open myself to all the joyful possibilities of life.

Today this video was shared in my Facebook feed by a friend.  If you've got 6 minutes, I've guarantee that it will inspire and open you to the power and beauty that comes when you say yes.  Let me introduce you to the girls and women of Camp Fury.  This is one of the Girl Scout programs of which I am most proud. This camp is led by the elite women in public service in our community.  Girls from all walks of life come together.  By the end of the week, the differences between them have completely disappeared.  In the video you'll see beautiful examples of saying 'yes, I can' and of sistering.  Let me share two examples from when I have visited camp that left me in tears.

One sweltering day, I was sitting in the shade of a fire truck watching the girls rappel on challenge day and I became aware of a small voice above me.  A girl was climbing the fire truck ladder as depicted in this video and she was saying 'I can't do this', 'I'm afraid' with every step she took.  Every single step.  'I can't do it'.  Step.  'I'm afraid'.  Another step.  Over and over.  She 'I can't'ed' herself all the way out to the end of that ladder.  She said yes, and she did it anyway.

And beautiful Kaylene- watch the video and you'll see her at the top of the wall preparing to rappel down.  She was terrified, and she said yes.  By the time she got to the bottom of the wall, all her squad mates (who had been at the top cheering her on), had run down 6 flights of steps to the bottom to receive her there.  You'll see that in the video too.  They completely surrounded her in a hug and they all stood there shaking and sobbing for about 4 minutes straight, never letting Kaylene go.  All of them crying.  And I sat there sobbing as I watched.

What in your life has been waiting for you to say yes?  Won't you take a page from these inspiring girls and do it.  Say yes.  Say yes to yourself and open to the possibilities that all of life has to offer you.  Beautiful things are meant for you.  Surprising things are meant for you.  Good things are meant for you.  Say yes.

We've sure got a lot of work to do.

So, today I had got to spend time at a Girl Scout meeting with a mixed age group of girls.  In honor of Valentines day, the activity at hand was to write letters to themselves to share some of the things that they liked, loved or appreciated about themselves.

Many of the girls were struggling.  Their troop leaders patiently coached them through it and before long, the girls were standing up and sharing their letters aloud while others listened.

I watched as a fourth grader stood up and shared her letter to herself.  The part that really caught my attention was that she slipped in some of her dreams along with her list of what she liked about herself.  A girl after my own heart, I heard her confidently proclaim that she wanted to 'travel the world with her friends'. She capped it off with  a saucy "Love, Me."

And then... she added a PS and my heart stopped.

"PS... Lose weight".

I'm just so angry and sad that I don't even know what to do with it.  This beautiful child topped of a great love letter full of confidence what that bit of soul killing bullshit.

Thank goodness that she's in Girl Scouts.  Thank goodness that she has a place to go where all bodies are good bodies.  Thank goodness that there's a caring adult who will find a quiet time and place to talk with her and help her know that everything about her is a gift to this world.

Lifting up women and girls... what have you done today?

My heart is full today.  It's been a wonderful month in which I have been blessed with a larger than ordinary number of opportunities for self renewal.  A lovely, unplugged week in Hawaii with my husband was followed by a truly special retreat for women called Brave Girls Camp.  Today I was able to be in a room full of women leaders in my community to hear Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chavez speak about the importance of funding and volunteering for organizations like ours that support and advocate for girls.

When talking with Anna Maria today, she shared with me that the Girl Scout Research Institute has brand new, not yet published research that shows Arizona 49th for girls living in poverty.   We can't really afford to wait any longer to do something about it.  Following that conversation Anna  delivered an inspiring call to action.  We must stand together to raise a generation of leaders or we will face an empty leadership pipeline when we need it most.

I remember a Pete Seeger quote about how lucky we are that the world is so screwed up... because that means it's never been easier to make a real difference in the lives others.  It's funny and it's certainly true that it's easy to make a difference in the lives of women and girls.  Yes, you can share your time, treasure and talents with great organizations like Girl Scouts, but it's even easier than that.

You can begin to lift other women and girls up by such radical actions as shutting down fat talk when you hear it starting around the office or the locker room.  Whenever you hear people commenting on the personal appearance of female political candidates, you can challenge it.  When you hear a young girl say she 'can't do it', you can remind her that instead of "can't" it's probably more likely that she just doesn't know how yet.  These simple but out of the ordinary actions compounded by those of others raise the boats of all women.   We must find ways to make that happen.  Girls and women can't wait any longer.  Girls in Arizona and girls halfway around the world... they can't wait any longer.

You get to choose what you will do to help lift up women and girls... but we all need to you choose to choose.  Think about it.  What can we count on you for?  Post in the comments what you commit to do.