Chippewa Valley 5ive for Women The Chippewa Valley’s Premier Magazine for Women!
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You asked me If I ever stood up for anything. Yeah, I stood up for my life.
–Tina Turner
It sounds a bit cliché. Believe me, I know. When I started to think about this issue, I got all the quotes. You know the ones: So far, you have lived through 100 percent of your worst days. Position yourself to succeed by doing things that rejuvenate you. Do your best, and let the rest go. Be yourself, everyone else is taken (Oscar Wilde). Sound advice. However, it made me want to chuck the computer across the room. No offense to the inimitable Oscar Wilde.
Recently, I was in Chicago for a conference and took myself to lunch at an outdoor café. The weather was perfect. I was at a little corner table. I sipped my almond milk latté and settled in for some excellent people-watching. (Side note: Take yourself to lunch alone.) I saw the sweetest young couple who looked to be about four weeks from delivering what I guess to be baby number one. As they walked by, he reached over and rubbed her belly. She looked up and gave him the sweetest look. I saw three teens with their mamas all decked out in their Swiftie outfits—Tay Tay was in town, and their excitement was palpable as they skipped by the café. I smiled, thinking of me taking Grace to her first Taylor Swift concert when she was 11. The couple sitting next to me appeared to be in their eighties. They did not seem to talk to each other. At first, I thought they were not happy, maybe even fighting. But they looked at each other, gave glances, and seemed to read each other’s language. She would look up, and he would hand her the salt, and he leaned in, and she grabbed an extra napkin—a lifetime of learning each other. Halfway through their dinner, she reached over and put her hand in his, and I saw the love between them. I saw kids and families discussing the economy, the weather, the traffic, life.
This same weekend I also did a deep dive into Tina Turner. I first watched the documentary Tina but then decided to go deeper and watch the movie What’s Love Got to Do with It. Ladies, she lived her best life despite her circumstances, and she reinvented herself and received terrific success in her second half. Rest in Peace; what an example of living her authentic best life. Tine stood up for her life and all that she believed.
That brings me to the community of women who grace our cover. These women are all examples of how to live your best self and reach back and help other women cultivate their best selves. Enjoy their stories.
I lived most of my life trying to stay extraordinarily busy because if I was busy enough or successful enough, no one would know about or be able to see my pain and fear. Ideally, people would only see my strength because when you are strong, people rarely see your weakness. Now I accept myself, and I have nothing to prove. If you stand close, you will see my vulnerability and willingness to be seen. So, perhaps Mr. Wilde wasn’t so far off.
My beautiful readers, suck up every second of this Wisconsin summer, enjoy and lean into your best self and celebrate yourself and all that you are.
The journey continues in faith, family, friends, fitness, and finance.
