Elizabeth D. Gray's Blog, page 2
November 7, 2015
Gifted with Grit
In the latest edition of my, "I am" journal affirmation collection for girls, I wanted to focus on providing them with tools for both recognizing and celebrating their own success stories. Societal criteria for success, particularly for girls, has lagged behind the times for too long and has often been a source for the sharpest blows to self esteem.
I wanted our new generation of girls to begin to forge their own definitions of success, through practical study and contemplation. I wanted every girl to be able to see the truth of her own successes and to not be confined by outer definitions of what it means to be successful.
One particular affirmation addresses the very real challenge for girls who are not endowed with the "gifted" label. What do we tell the girls who are not told they are gifted? The girls who are not given access to special attention, focus and educational opportunity? I believe we tell them that there are other gifts and that among the most powerful of these is the gift of grit.
Gifted With Grit
We hear the term gifted
And we equate it with guaranteed success
Because the gifted individual
Has the advantage
Of some special intelligence
They’re ahead of the game
But I am among the luckiest of girls
For I am gifted with grit
I am gifted with the resolve
To never give up
No matter how long it takes me
To get where I want to go
I am gifted with tenacity
When you tell me I am not capable
You’ll witness me prove you wrong
I am gifted with courage to forge ahead
Even when I am certain to fail
Several times before I succeed
The gift of grit is perhaps more powerful
Than any other gifted advantage
And why is that so?
Because a person with grit
Makes up for any weakness
By the sheer resolve of will
And a person who refuses to give up
Though challenged in the most monumental ways
Can overcome any obstacle
I refuse to be limited by any label
That describes me as anything but gifted
Because I most certainly am gifted
Gifted with grit
I am Successful: Journal Affirmations for Girls
I wanted our new generation of girls to begin to forge their own definitions of success, through practical study and contemplation. I wanted every girl to be able to see the truth of her own successes and to not be confined by outer definitions of what it means to be successful.
One particular affirmation addresses the very real challenge for girls who are not endowed with the "gifted" label. What do we tell the girls who are not told they are gifted? The girls who are not given access to special attention, focus and educational opportunity? I believe we tell them that there are other gifts and that among the most powerful of these is the gift of grit.
Gifted With Grit
We hear the term gifted
And we equate it with guaranteed success
Because the gifted individual
Has the advantage
Of some special intelligence
They’re ahead of the game
But I am among the luckiest of girls
For I am gifted with grit
I am gifted with the resolve
To never give up
No matter how long it takes me
To get where I want to go
I am gifted with tenacity
When you tell me I am not capable
You’ll witness me prove you wrong
I am gifted with courage to forge ahead
Even when I am certain to fail
Several times before I succeed
The gift of grit is perhaps more powerful
Than any other gifted advantage
And why is that so?
Because a person with grit
Makes up for any weakness
By the sheer resolve of will
And a person who refuses to give up
Though challenged in the most monumental ways
Can overcome any obstacle
I refuse to be limited by any label
That describes me as anything but gifted
Because I most certainly am gifted
Gifted with grit
I am Successful: Journal Affirmations for Girls
September 4, 2015
I am not a measurement
I am Enough: Journal Affirmations for Girls
Maybe I'm crazy, but I think each of us has the potential to leave our mark on the world, to change it for the better in whatever way we're best able to do so. One of my sincerest goals is to uplift and empower girls. It certainly seems like uphill battle in today's society.
Girls are born into an age where they are measured from the moment of birth (quite literally) and for each and every day of their lives. It's impossible to grow up without the nagging perception that they don't quite fit the mold, that their physical bodies must be sculpted, resized or even surgically altered to be acceptable.
With the focus directed on living up to an impossible ideal, how much time is left to delve into those issues that truly matter? How much time is robbed from a girl, as she focuses on the abiding notion that she is not quite good enough? What precious hours could be instead devoted to the exploration of her sincerest hopes and dreams?
If she could move unfettered into a world of her own design, where she could leave outdated notions of beauty behind her to focus on the talents she was born to share with the world, how much better a world would this be?
If we could once and for all free our daughters of the notion that any outside source is capable of measuring them up and deciding their worth based literally on their physical proportions, we would see the most successful generation of girls grow to their fullest and happiest potential.
If there was one message I could give to each and every girl alive today, it would be that she is not a measurement.
I am not a Measurement
I am not a measurement
A set of numbers
Their relevance determined by others
In a society that seeks constant judgment
A computation of my proportions
Against garish standards
Dividing the good and the bad
According to some scale
Created in absurdity
In some strange twist of fate
A crooked line in humanity's development
I am not a computation on a bell curve
A dot on a graph
I refuse to be measured
On any scale
Not wrought of my own design
The dial turning
The arrow pointing
In a direction of my choosing
And mine alone
For there is no equation
Capable of measuring me
My complexities surpass the ability
To be analyzed by numbers
Meant to fit inside boxes
I reject the proposition
That places me on any scale
I am not a measurement
Maybe I'm crazy, but I think each of us has the potential to leave our mark on the world, to change it for the better in whatever way we're best able to do so. One of my sincerest goals is to uplift and empower girls. It certainly seems like uphill battle in today's society.
Girls are born into an age where they are measured from the moment of birth (quite literally) and for each and every day of their lives. It's impossible to grow up without the nagging perception that they don't quite fit the mold, that their physical bodies must be sculpted, resized or even surgically altered to be acceptable.
With the focus directed on living up to an impossible ideal, how much time is left to delve into those issues that truly matter? How much time is robbed from a girl, as she focuses on the abiding notion that she is not quite good enough? What precious hours could be instead devoted to the exploration of her sincerest hopes and dreams?
If she could move unfettered into a world of her own design, where she could leave outdated notions of beauty behind her to focus on the talents she was born to share with the world, how much better a world would this be?
If we could once and for all free our daughters of the notion that any outside source is capable of measuring them up and deciding their worth based literally on their physical proportions, we would see the most successful generation of girls grow to their fullest and happiest potential.
If there was one message I could give to each and every girl alive today, it would be that she is not a measurement.
I am not a Measurement
I am not a measurement
A set of numbers
Their relevance determined by others
In a society that seeks constant judgment
A computation of my proportions
Against garish standards
Dividing the good and the bad
According to some scale
Created in absurdity
In some strange twist of fate
A crooked line in humanity's development
I am not a computation on a bell curve
A dot on a graph
I refuse to be measured
On any scale
Not wrought of my own design
The dial turning
The arrow pointing
In a direction of my choosing
And mine alone
For there is no equation
Capable of measuring me
My complexities surpass the ability
To be analyzed by numbers
Meant to fit inside boxes
I reject the proposition
That places me on any scale
I am not a measurement
February 28, 2015
In the Shadows
In the Shadows: Finding God on our Darkest Days is free in Kindle version through Wednesday, March 4th, 2015
Have you ever experienced a life storm? A period of time in which you are the recipient of a downpour so merciless that it threatens your very belief in the importance of your own life? Perhaps it is one life storm, one event that literally brings you to your knees and has you praying for relief. Perhaps it is a series of storms, one upon the next, a string of challenges so profound that you lose faith that the storm will ever end.
The affirmations in this book are for such periods in life. They do not promise a parting of the clouds and the relief from the storm. They promise only that although you may experience the illusion of aloneness during the storm, the truth is quite the opposite.
We know all too well that to remember God, to feel His presence and to gush words of praise upon Him comes easily when the sun is shining and life is good. But it is when you find yourself in the midst of a life storm that the true test of your devotion is exercised. It is during these times that the affirmations contained in this book might serve as a tool, especially when it seems the storm will never end.
If you can acknowledge the breaking of your own heart while also understanding that God is with you, that the jagged path set out before you is not meant to punish, you will have a received a gift that is greater than a sunny day. There are no promises here that your problems will vanish, but only that you might take comfort in knowing that it is within the storm most assuredly above all other times, that you are not alone. And nothing shapes a soul into the truest, strongest form of itself than a life storm.
In the Shadows: Finding God on Our Darkest Days
Have you ever experienced a life storm? A period of time in which you are the recipient of a downpour so merciless that it threatens your very belief in the importance of your own life? Perhaps it is one life storm, one event that literally brings you to your knees and has you praying for relief. Perhaps it is a series of storms, one upon the next, a string of challenges so profound that you lose faith that the storm will ever end.
The affirmations in this book are for such periods in life. They do not promise a parting of the clouds and the relief from the storm. They promise only that although you may experience the illusion of aloneness during the storm, the truth is quite the opposite.
We know all too well that to remember God, to feel His presence and to gush words of praise upon Him comes easily when the sun is shining and life is good. But it is when you find yourself in the midst of a life storm that the true test of your devotion is exercised. It is during these times that the affirmations contained in this book might serve as a tool, especially when it seems the storm will never end.
If you can acknowledge the breaking of your own heart while also understanding that God is with you, that the jagged path set out before you is not meant to punish, you will have a received a gift that is greater than a sunny day. There are no promises here that your problems will vanish, but only that you might take comfort in knowing that it is within the storm most assuredly above all other times, that you are not alone. And nothing shapes a soul into the truest, strongest form of itself than a life storm.
In the Shadows: Finding God on Our Darkest Days
October 1, 2014
Read: "I am Enough: Journal Affirmations for Girls," for free
You can now read my title, "I am Enough: Journal Affirmations for Girls," for free on Goodreads. Simply navigate to the book's page and click, "Read Book."
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
