LIFT THEM UP

Lift them up.  Not because of what they might do for you.  But because their successes are your successes too.

I wrote this in my Instagram stories last week because I had been thinking a lot about how proud I am of so many women, both friends, but also complete strangers to me, except online.  These are women leading creative lives, building businesses and killing it. They are incredible mothers, letting others know it’s hard and that’s okay. Or they are artists trying to get their work seen and sold.  They are women standing up to bullies and calling out injustice and inequality. And they are women showing up for other women.

I see it every day, and I absolutely, completely love it.  I know it’s not all sunshine and roses. I know there are battles and real life going on behind the squares and the stories and the likes.  But that just makes me more proud and more determined to lift them up.

Sometimes this means buying from one of the female-run small businesses I love, or an artist I really admire.  More often it is by giving their brand a smidge more visibility by interacting with them online. And letting my friends know how great they are.

If I see someone succeeding in their business I want to celebrate.  Yes, I want success for myself too, but I don’t feel envious, I feel genuine happiness.  Because if they are doing it, it means it is possible.  And even if I never quite get to where I want to be, at least I will be showing my children that by lifting up others, we are also lifting up ourselves.

Lift them up.  Because their successes are our successes too.  And you’d better believe, if I see you trying, I’m going to will you along.  And if I see you succeed, in a big way or a small one, I’m going to be cheering for you.