A good friend of mine always reminds me that we become like the people that we spend time with, therefore we need to choose wisely.

Personally, I am inspired and motivated by strong women.  The women who are the backbones of their families.  The women who support their friends.  The women who decide that have sat for long enough, and stand up to those who treat them unfairly.

Strong women.

I see them everywhere.

In our culture, we tend to think of the women who have overcome terrible adversity or circumstances.

Strong women can also be seen in everyday life.

They are the moms who clean up an unexpected mess in the middle of the night without complaint.

They are the mothers who go without sleep, to care for toddlers, to check on grade-schoolers, to worry about teenagers, to pray for coeds, and then when they become grandmothers, start the whole cycle again.

They are the entrepreneurs who begin a plan, a website, a goal that they can envision, while no one else can.  They spend countless hours, days, weeks pursuing a goal that only they can see.

They leave behind secure positions to branch out on their own.  They leave behind bosses who belittle, shame, unfairly critique, intimidate, or even harass.

They stand when the safe response would be to sit.  The safe option would be to take whatever was handed to them, and not complain.

But these women reach a point where enough is enough.

I love these women.  There is a kinship within these friendships.  There is a bond that cannot be explained.  Women who have developed that strength, the strength to trust themselves, even when others do not.

Strong women are often misunderstood.  They are called bitchy.  They are perceived as rude.  Some call them cold.

No.  These women are determined.  They are chasing goals.  They do not have time for people who do not believe in them.

The men who love them are in for a big challenge.  These women are a combination of strength and insecurity.  They are a mixture of defiance and fear.

They are almost never sure they are doing to right thing but believe in themselves enough to try.

We need more of them.

“Strong women, may know them, may we be them, may we raise them.”