On Badassness

On Badassness

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. – Marianne Williamson

Someone who mattered deeply to me once called me selfish. I can remember watching him forming the word. It has stuck with me for decades. Feelings of guilt and shame and lack were what I carried. Recently, it occurred to me that I was being called out as selfish when I was simply sure of myself and what I wanted. I took a stand for myself. That was not selfish. It was not a threat. I was simply a woman with confidence, power, and purpose.

Besides, when we are overly selfless, as most women in our culture tend to be, we end up truly being self less. We begin to lose our true self. It does no good for the world to make ourselves small and underperform because someone may judge our power or feel threatened. That inner power is how we change the world.

Today, I give up guilt for being confident. I give up calling myself names such as “selfish”. Perhaps I’ll meet my badass self again.