Skating Uphill - November 2018

“November is Gratitude Time!”
– The Uphill Skater –

The late, and might I say great, Joan Rivers once was rumored to have said, “Gratitude sucks. Give me plastic surgery every time!” Albeit extreme, I grant you, think about it for a minute: That humble, grateful, “Thank you so much, I could not have done it with out you” may be worn a bit thin lately. I do NOT mean that one should not have the generosity of heart to acknowledge when one has been helped. God forbid! What I mean is that we, and by we I mean women in general, might want to take a look at where we are in our struggle for equality, and maybe just take a deep breath and not be afraid to look victory in the eye.

Women are still putting on their funny hats and marching. I get that. We are also going strong on the #metoo movement, and that is something long overdue. Yes, in some cases it has perhaps gone to the extreme, but on the whole, I do think some kind of justice has been and is being served. We are winning battles right and left, no pun intended.

Let’s look at some interesting statistics for just a minute. Did you know more women than men now graduate from high school? Do you realize more women than men now graduate from college? Did you know in many medical fields, women out number men? There are more women veterinarians than men. Another statistic I found hard to believe at first is more women are now heads of households than men. This counts single parent households, but it also takes into account women who live alone and, surprisingly, women who are the major wage earners in their own two parent families. Quite a surprise, huh? Perhaps we are not as bad off as we thought.

We have come such a long way from the days that limited women who went to college to the opportunity to be a nurse, a teacher, or, as my dad used to say, “to look for that MRS degree.” My daughter is a doctor, and my daughter-in-law is a computer science engineer and university professor. I had a very successful career as a reading resource specialist, and went back to school later in life. I earned what I laughingly call a post-menopausal master’s degree when I was in my 40s.

As we gather together with our dear ones at Thanksgiving, I hope that it is in each of our hearts to understand many things. First, we are honestly and at some real level, in the same boat. I believe everyone has basic humanity, and as a Christian, I stand by that. Second, while I have made jokes about being grateful, please do not think that I am not. We, none of us, really, “make it on our own,” nor should we. Right now women are celebrating being women more than ever. While it seems like all complaints and horrific things constantly in the forefront of the news and social media, women actually have much to be grateful for. Collectively, we are the most powerful group in America, more than we have ever been.

One of the biggest things to personal growth is learning, applying and then celebrating what you’ve accomplished. If you never stop to celebrate moving forward you lose sight of gained ground. This Thanksgiving lets all take a collective deep breath and truly be thankful for all that we do, all that we are and the abundance of opportunities we all have. Maybe it’s not so bad, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving –Love, Judith