#womensday2023
This morning when my maid didnt turn up, I took over the charge and cooked our meal like any other day. The last minute change did put me off the grid. But I could still finish cooking just in time and even managed to dress up in a saree to leave for the office. I was warmly greeted by security guards with women's day wishes and I was pleasantly surprised to hear them extending wishes. But it felt really good. When I reached the office, I garnered quite a few compliments on my attire. Some people asked if I am wearing a saree for women's day. And my answer to them and to myself was 'Yes...why not?'. Today is like any other working day when I am switching roles from minding household chores to managing credit risks for my portfolio to helping my kid with studies. Yet I chose to celebrate today by making myself feel better by dressing up a bit, smiling a little wider, stressing a little less and being more of myself.
The opinions about celebrating women's day vary from person to person. Some people feel, why a single day when women work hard every single day? Some people feel why not acknowledge it by celebrating it on that day? Some feel it's like any other day. Some feel why talk about equality and then celebrate at our own discretion? And you may or may not agree with any of these. What matters is what 'you' want to do. And I think women's day is all about it...choosing what you want to do irrespective of what the world around you wants you to do...this day and every day…
More often than not we women are believed to be masters of multitasking. We juggle between home, office, kids, relatives as if we were born to do this multitasking effortlessly. Most of the time we do it because we have to. But we seldom wonder if we want to. We often neglect the signals of the body to slow down. Because we ourselves do not have that acceptance of not doing some things out of the many things we are ought to do. With that comes the guilt, stress which some way or other hampers our self esteem. We start erasing our boundaries to accommodate more and more responsibilities, only to realise later that these responsibilities weigh too heavily on our mental peace. When we go out of our way to do some things, the expectations of reciprocation of those efforts start building in the background. And when those are not fulfilled, it starts building resentment. It's not easy to be void of expectations. But it's not difficult to abide by boundaries either. All we need is acceptance of our limitations and a little assertiveness to protect our piece of mind.
Whether you are a working woman or a housewife…
Whether you are married or unmarried...
Whether you are a mother or not a mother…
Whether you breastfed your baby or formula fed…
Whether you wear sarees or skirts…
Whether you are introvert or extrovert…
Whether to splurge or save...and all those parameters on which you are often judged...You are ENOUGH and that's all that matters.
Happy Women's Day to all the lovely women out there ❤️
Shine on...
