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Women of the
Metamorphosis Age
This article
appeared in www.indiatimes.com on 3/19/2003.
Wake
up Caterpillar, it is time to own up to your innate
beauty – there is no need to be cocooned in the self
created old restricted ways. Your time has come to
spread your wings and take a flight into the
vastness of pure joy.
Women all around the world have come to a
junction where the powerful information age has
changed the face of global markets. Opportunities
for women are on the rise. In order to turn these
opportunities into golden opportunities for
generations to come, the woman of the metamorphosis
age must let go of the caterpillar and ride the tide
of transformation into a butterfly.
Within each woman is an untouched and unleashed
creative energy that has the power to change the
world from chaos to order. Before any woman can tap
into the reservoir of this massive creative force,
she must be willing to go through the
transformation; no other person can do this for
her. With each step she takes, she is setting the
stage for great accomplishments. She will serve
herself and others by expressing this creative
energy in ways unimaginable to the limited mind, but
first she must become grounded and solid within
herself.
Through solidification of mind/body/spirit, women
would be better equipped to handle discrimination or
physical/emotional abuse. Her sense of self will be
solid allowing her to stay away from emotional
breakdowns.
Women would not have to isolate themselves or form
groups to protect themselves or even protest against
any injustice. On the contrary, by forming an inner
connection, gathering their broken pieces and
putting them together they will have the massive
strength to face worldly challenges. I am talking
about the strength that my grandfather spoke about
when I was growing up; he would tell me “when the
dogs bark, the elephant walks in a grand way, not
bothered in the least by the sounds of the bark.”
What
is the old way women succumb to? One or more of the
following ways are adapted by women all around the
world depending on personal experiences and
instilled beliefs:
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Some women take on a role of supporter/nurturer
without having any type of support system for
themselves. Often, the result is resentfulness,
or martyrdom and eventual depletion of one’s
vitality and enthusiasm about life.
-
Some women who watch their mothers become
resentful take on a vengeful attitude that comes
through when women fight for equality. They may
win some battles and lose others; however, there
still remains the discrimination factor of them
vs. us and will not bring long term solutions.
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Yet others learn to live just for themselves with
an attitude of ‘what’s in it for me?’ Good
examples are prevalent in every soap opera, where
characters will use all forms of manipulation and
control to obtain desired results. This may bring
some desired results but this type of life robs
one of inner strength, the most important
ingredient for sustaining happiness.
-
Sadly enough there are those who become victims of
injustice and they live with the fire of hatred
and eventually end up burning themselves.
-
Furthermore, there are those who constantly take
on the burden of emotional and physical abuse and
have no outlet. They cry their eyes dry and
cannot speak to a soul for fear of additional
abuse or loosing face. The result is an empty,
desperate and hopeless life.
-
Looking deeper into the life styles of working
women who work twice as hard to prove themselves
and at the end of the day come home to more work
that awaits their single-handed attention. The
result is stress and eventual burn out.
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Another group of women are those who use their
beauty and sensuality to get what they want. They
lose sight of their innate talents and are stuck
with their physical sense. Exploitation breeds
injustice and injustice of any form causes deep
scars on the face of human society.
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Then there are those who strive to make lives
better for themselves but get thrown back into a
rut because the society imprisons them with all
kinds of stigmas. It is a sign of immaturity at
many levels when people gather to pass judgment as
to what the woman’s rights are and where she went
wrong, stomping on her growth at every possible
opportunity – this is clearly a situation where
empty vessels make more noise – devoid of their
own virtues, they are trying to look through hard
and cold eyes. Whether it is the woman who
continues to be victimized or the people who
continue to judge, both are in the same narrow-
minded boat.
Then
there are those women who have a balanced life where
they are honored and have the love, respect and
riches they enjoy. Such women exert a sense of joy
that is contagious. These women can become the
strong pillars of our society by being role models
and raising the bar for all womankind.
Whether one is suffering from being a victim or is
enjoying small victories from the need of gaining
power, the pain remains in the unsettled heart that
searches for happiness.
Women of the metamorphosis age, wake up to your
self! Your answer to happiness lies in settling
your heart and finding the treasures of insights
waiting to guide you through your transformation.
So collect your self from wherever you are in life
and say ‘No’ to the long term damage you are causing
to yourself and society by continuing in the old
ways.
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First and foremost, stop believing in what you
think you can or cannot do! Go beyond the
mind and believe in what you absolutely know
you can do.
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Stop looking for quick solutions – the path to
quick solutions are filled with quick sand.
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Do not condemn or hate anyone, as no one
can cause any damage to you unless you allow them
to.
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Be accountable for your actions – blaming others
will only make you miserable and disempowered. In
taking accountability, you will gain the
confidence and empowerment to change the
situation.
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Find out what you stand for – if you don’t find
for yourself what you stand for, then you will be
drifted by what others stand for.
-
Always state a clear intention to yourself before
you want something – for instance you have an
impulse to shop, check to ensure that you are not
trying to cover boredom with excitement or sadness
with an escape into the glitters of shopping. In
times like this, you will almost always bring home
something you would never wear and the boredom or
sadness will continue to exist.
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Replenish your energy by resting, relaxing,
meditating or strolling – this will boost your
energy to get things accomplished in a calm
fashion.
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Emotions get their power from the stories we build
in our mind through our thoughts. Understand your
thought process to its depths and any time you get
too emotional, sit back and examine your thoughts
to distinguish between what the problem really is
as opposed to what you perceive the problem to
be. Look through the eyes of the intellect vs.
looking through the mind that is cooking up false
stories.
As
you kill the demons of cruelty within and expand
your horizons, the demons of cruelty from the
outside world will stop impacting your being.
Challenges will always come your way until the day
you die but you will be armed with inner strength to
face the challenges with a sense of security and
empowerment.
Remember, you always bring into your world what you
expect you deserve. So be deserving of the best and
leave the rest.
Neerja Bhatia
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