The Single Woman’s Dash of Sass: Accept Me – or Walk Away

Quote of the Day:

“There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout: This is me, damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me… or leave me. Accept me – or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don’t fit your idea of who I should be and don’t try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision. When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad – you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.” ~Stacey Charter

The Single Woman Says:

My mom reminded me this weekend of the time in kindergarten when I punched a boy in the stomach for bullying my friend. Today’s quote is a direct reflection of that memory. Now, I don’t condone violence, but the boy, Ryan, was goading my best friend, DeeDee, for being short. She was such a sweet girl…quiet, unassuming, loyal to her core…but all Ryan could see was her height, and that it didn’t quite measure up to everyone else’s. So he picked at her. All day, every day, endlessly. And she never once responded. Finally one day we were lining up to go to the cafeteria and I had had enough. I turned around to where he was standing behind us in the line, pulled my tiny little fist back, and punched him in the stomach as hard as I could. Now, considering the fact that I was a wisp of a girl who had the stick-like arms and legs of a praying mantis, I doubt if my punch packed very much power, but he started screaming and wailing like someone had just prodded him with a hot iron. For me, this act was shockingly out of character. I was painfully shy at that age and never even raised my hand in class because I was too bashful to speak in front of people. But, like the quote above, I knew it was my time to rise up on behalf of DeeDee and every kid who suffers at the hands of a bully and take action. Ultimately, I had to apologize to Ryan’s mother, who was a teacher at my school, as big crocodile tears of humiliation streaked down my face…but Ryan never made fun of DeeDee again after that day. And somewhere deep inside little 5-year-old Mandy…a girl who felt the need to stand up and defend the character and honor of the so-called “outcasts” of society was born. I guess it was only a natural progression to step into the stilettos of “The Single Woman” and proclaim to the world that there ain’t nothing desperate or needy or sad and pathetic about being a single woman.

My point to all this is to say: It’s time for YOU to reach the point where you rise up and tell the world ENOUGH! Stop defending your right to be single, to be happy, to be sad, to have tattoos, to pierce your nose, to march to the beat of a different drummer, to weigh more or weigh less, to be taller or be shorter…to be YOU. Who cares if people don’t “get” you? Don’t shrink down the magic inside your soul to fit the small minds of people who can’t comprehend your uniqueness! Stop apologizing for your success OR your failure. They are both part of your journey and don’ require a stamp of approval from the crowd. Let the people in your life either take you as you ARE – or watch you as you GO. Life is too short to waste precious time pretending to be someone you’re not in order to fit in. Punch the bully of fear or doubt or insecurity or worthlessness in the stomach TODAY and be FREE!!!