Empowerment is a word that’s used and overused – what does it really mean? Empowerment is our goal, our mantra and our way of being in my free and private community: truly supporting each other in our journey achieving our health goals and living a purposeful life. We continually work towards improving women empowerment.
Improving Women Empowerment: Start With Yourself
In today’s world of instant gratification and quick fixes, empowerment is learning that you can rely on yourself and create the life that you want to have, even when making that happen seems like more that you’re capable of. Because the truth is that you can do more than you think you’re capable of. Your potential is far beyond what you think is possible. What’s more, you don’t have to have someone there with you every step of the way.
You’re Not Alone
What empowerment doesn’t mean is that you’re all alone in this journey to yourself. It’s OK to get help along the way. Humans are creatures of community, of connection. Successful people are almost always quick to point out that the spark of their accomplishments came from within, but that it was the support and help of others that facilitated their final success. They were empowered by people along the way to believe that they could do it.
Improving women empowerment requires more than just platitudes. Words can help along the way most certainly, but it’s the helping someone to see that they are capable of growing to be more that is the real heart of support. You don’t just know how to eat healthy and take care of your body properly – these are skills that must be taught by someone who knows how. But they aren’t magical secrets either, and everyone is capable of mastering them.
Independence vs. Dependence
One of the biggest pitfalls of getting help is the danger of becoming dependent on that aid that you’re getting, often to the point that you backtrack without it. That’s really what yo-yo dieting is all about, and it’s a cycle that millions of people find themselves trapped in. The key to overcoming dependency is empowerment.
“I felt like I was walking up a very steep cliff. I needed someone to tell me where to begin, how to manage/organize myself, where to get resources easily, when to push forward and when to stop and wait. In just 6 months of working with Stephanie I did not just organize myself, I learned patience. I learned how to listen to my body and interpret it. The best thing I have ever done for my family is work with Stephanie and the results I’m seeing are nothing short of a miracle.”- Amal S.
Good support is support that scaffolds your growth, giving you the tools that you need in order to master your own life independently. Great support stairsteps you up out of the canyon that you find yourself in, then shows you that you can walk the path without a hand to hold, and maybe even that you can offer a hand to another down the line who needs it. It is always good to become part of a community whose goal is improving women empowerment.
Transformation
A great way to think about this whole process is the analogy of a wounded wild animal. In many ways, life gives us wounds that put us in danger for one reason or another. Those wounds can heal on their own, but leave us vulnerable and less able to care for ourselves, just as a wounded wild animal is vulnerable and less able to care for themselves.
Once they get the care that they need, then can be released and sent back out, fully empowered to take on the challenges that they face. The same is true for you. Once you’re supported and healed through the process, you’re able to then step up and take care of yourself again. This time wiser and with more experience. This is exactly how Crave Cure program program has been built.
This is the second article in the series “Journey to YOU”. You can find the first article of the series on Body Image right here. Hope you enjoy!