If you are a woman, and you were born on Planet Earth between the years of 1000 BC and 2000 AD, chances are, you were carefully programmed to be a “good girl.”
That programming? It’s buried inside little phrases, like these:
“Be good, sweetheart.”
“Don’t bring that up at the dinner table.”
“Aren’t you pushing the envelope a little too much?”
“Well, that’s certainly ONE way to live your life…”
There’s a difference between being a “kind person” (warm, encouraging, thoughtful) and being a “good girl” (watered-down opinions, fearful, shut off from desire).
Being a “good girl” is a global epidemic. And it’s got some pretty serious side effects.
Side effects like:
: Wasting a decade of your life in a career you don’t love, earning less than you could — because “good girls” don’t demand “more.”
: Wasting two decades of your life in a relationship that’s not right — because “good girls” are told to “be grateful” to have “landed a man,” even when your heart whispers, “get out.”
: Wasting three decades of your life in a body that aches, that’s over its ideal weight — because “good girls” put everyone else’s needs before their own. Even if that means sacrificing your health.
If being a “good girl” was a medical prescription, and you read the list of side effects, you’d throw that bottle straight into the trash. (“You trying to KILL me, doc?”)
But there’s one MORE side effect to being a “good girl.”
And for me? It’s the scariest one of all.
When you bite your lip … hold your tongue … lower your hand … ignore your body’s red-flags … dilute your opinions … and choose not to “rock the boat,” you are silently voting to keep the world “just as it is,” instead of potentially making it BETTER.
And that? Is NOT good.
For the rest of the day, I want you to notice when your inner “good girl” takes the reins. Acknowledge her — and then take them right back.
Because your life — and our world — can always evolve in a better direction.
But only when you stop being so “good.”
Susan
P.S. Feel like stirring up trouble? Facebook this:
“Good girls” let things happen. “Bad girls” make sh*t happen. Guess which one the world needs, now?
