Who would you rather be?

Beyonce or Michelle Obama?

 

 

Adele or Oprah?

 

Marilyn Monroe or Eleanor Roosevelt?

 

Serena Williams or Gloria Steinem?

 

Malala Yousafzal or Nora Ephron?

 

Hard choices.

Don’t choose just by looks. It’s not high school.

None of these women had perfect lives. You know anybody who does? If you think you do, I’m telling you you’re wrong—and I don’t even know them!

But these women all had courage. To take risks. To try even harder after failures. To not listen to people who said, “No you can’t.”

It takes a lot of courage to have courage.

I’ve been thinking about who I’d change places with, though I doubt anyone would want to change places with me–except maybe the dead ones.

I’d like to think I’d choose Mother Theresa or Eleanor Roosevelt.

But if I were like Mother Theresa, I’d have to wear the same thing every day– forever. And never have a pair of heels. Or even one accessory.

And if I were like Eleanor, I’d have to wear those hats.

Secretly, I’d rather be Mae West.  She ate. And she had a great wardrobe.  And, boy, did she have courage. But the only thing we have in common is our appetite.

I wish I’d had more courage when I was young.  I believed what I was told. Men were the important ones. I was just supposed to become a housewife.

When I was younger, I never had enough courage to ever offer an opinion. Actually, I never even had an opinion. If somebody asked me to do something, I just said “yes.” Which may account for my having six children.

Actually, my Uncle Larry told me often no one would ever marry me because even though I had braces on my buck teeth, I didn’t wear my retainer at night. But I proved him wrong. I had three husbands.

Don’t worry, not all at the same time.

I had more courage after I had children. You do things for your kids you wouldn’t do for yourself. I think having courage is especially hard for women.

We think it’s our job to take care of everybody else and fix every problem. We have courage when it comes to doing things for others—but not when it comes to ourselves.

Even today I can’t say “Can’t you read?” to a woman in front of me at Shoprite on a “UNDER 6 ITEMS” checkout line who has at least 39 things in her wagon.

Actually, I like to look in other people’s wagons and see what they’re buying. Sometimes I even ask a stranger on line, “How do you cook that?” Bravo for me!

Once I even sent back a plate of bean curd and bok choy in Chinatown because it had a big bug in it, but I felt so bad I left the waiter a big tip.

It’s not like I want courage to go swimming with sharks or wear a bikini to the beach even though I’ve been eligible for Medicare for many years.

I’d like have enough courage to do something really significant during my lifetime like those other women, but it’s hard enough for me to have the courage to frequently speak truthfully to my own family.

But I still tell my grandchildren, “Listen to everybody, think about what they say, and then have the courage to do what you want.”

So when my grandkids don’t listen to what I want them to do, I marvel at their courage. That’s progress—I think.

 

You’re just a button click away–
and I’d love to hear from you.

About your world, your family, your joys and frustrations,growing up, growing older, even recipes–even though I stopped cooking–by request–years ago.

Goodbye until next time…

Hope your day turns out as well as I hope
(but doubt) mine will,

Gingy (Ilene)