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No He Didn’t – He’s Out Of Control

October 18, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

Have you ever been somewhere with a friend and they do something that might be considered socially unacceptable? Perhaps they burst into song or talked too loudly. Maybe they acted ugly about the service they received at a restaurant and you wanted to crawl under the table and die.

Those particular situations don’t happen in my family very often but this sort of behavior does ALL THE TIME.

Jason and I took Nora to the doctor on Friday and had to wait a little too long. Jason got bored and decided to put his “medical knowledge” to use.

Needless to say, I was HORRIFIED as he picked up each instrument and proceeded with his “examination.”

He noticed irritation and drainage.

Any minute the door was bound to open. My heart was racing as I documented the fun. I was amused and fearful.

Good doctors ALWAYS wash their hands after an exam is over. After a thorough washing, Jason proceeded to explore the cabinets. He’s always opened the drawers at doctor’s visits but never actually played with what he found like he did this time.

Thankfully he only picked the blood pressure cuff up and put it right back.

I had a choice to freak out and be mad about what was happening around me or accept it for what it was and let him be responsible for his actions. I could’ve huffed and puffed and been angry, but that would’ve only stressed me out. This is one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from the What One Person Can Do program that has saved me a great deal of stress over the years. The ONLY thing I can control is HOW I CHOOSE TO BE in the world. I can’t control my nutty husband. All I can control is my reaction.

I wouldn’t go back and undo one moment of this experience. Nora enjoyed the whole thing thoroughly.

We could hear the doctor and a difficult patient in the room next to us, so Jason was telling Nora that they’d be able to hear us too and to keep quiet.

A bio-hazard bag may or may not have made its way into Jason’s right pocket. I’m not advocating any of this. I’m just reporting the facts.

As the fun was drawing to a close, Nora said, “It’s time to Buddy The Elf this cotton ball.”

What a fun girl! I’m extremely thankful the doctor didn’t walk in on any of this because after dealing with the cranky guy in the next room, she was NOT in a good mood when she walked into ours.

In all situations we have a choice. Have you ever noticed the moment that you chose to react in a certain way to people or circumstances that happen to you?

I’m really mindful of my choices now. I remember choosing to get out my phone and start snapping the insanity instead of freaking out about it.

I am mindful EACH time I decide to react angrily towards whichever child is disobeying my instruction to do A, B, or C. I choose calm or anger. I have the thought to say angry words and whether I’ll say them or not. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. My kids don’t “make” me do it. Their behavior doesn’t make me yell. I choose it.

My husband wouldn’t have made me react angrily to his actions. I would have chosen to. I’m so glad I chose to be laid back this particular day and just enjoy the chaos that is my family.

Giving up the idea that I can control other people and recognizing my choices more often are 2 of the many practical and powerful tools found in What One Person Can Do. If YOU are ready to experience more peace and less struggle, I’d LOVE to personally go through this program with YOU.

This program/conversation has been conducted in schools, corporations, prisons, and one on one with the program’s founder, Bill Cumming, and other program conveners for 30 years. Space is EXTREMELY limited for anyone wishing to go through this with me. I only have room to work with 10 women, so click HERE to contact me (or Bill) with questions and to grab your spot.

There’s also an online version of the program available HERE. It’s an incredibly affordable option. 12 weeks of support for what 1 hour of counseling would cost! But…and I know this firsthand, even reasonably priced is not an option sometimes, so don’t write this off. Partial and full scholarships are available for those that need them and are serious about going through the work for both the online and one on one programs.

Wishing you all the peace and happiness your heart can hold,

Sarah

Running Out Of Time

October 6, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

Saturday I wrote my most well received blog post to date. (You can read that HERE.) It’s been really exciting! Usually when I share a post it gets 2-5 likes. That’s right TWO – FIVE. This one got over 60! and several people took time to tell me they enjoyed it or that it touched them.

It was awesome to get all of that LIKE love but I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to make this one appealing.

We were all in the living room later that night and Jason said, “Do you know what happiness is?”

I quickly replied, “2,000 views on your blog post!”

He was actually referring to family time, but whatever 🙂

When thinking about why this post was embraced and the others go mostly unread, I decided it was because the picture and title I chose made it look like Jason and I might be Moving On from each other. And so I’ve decided that all future blog posts will be teasers of some sort.

Thanks to all of you that read, liked, commented and shared that post. That really was a treat!

I feel like there’s a lot of pressure in writing subsequent posts now. I sat down for an hour or two last night and tried to write something worth reading. I got nothing.

I sat down again this morning about 9:30 and threw out some thoughts that will EVENTUALLY be posts but it’s just not happening yet.

It’s 11:30 a.m. and I’m starting to freak out a little. I was supposed to go to work this morning but I called out in order to have more time to get our stuff ready to move. Instead of organizing, I’m obviously writing.

Thankfully Jason is out “adulting” so I can finish this post, get dressed, and appear to have been working hard by the time he gets home. Unless one of you talks, he’ll never know.

It’s no secret that I’m unorganized. I’m literally running out of time today. It’s decision time. Will I sit and continue to let time slip by or will I wrap these thoughts up and move on to the next task?

I’ve made a decision. Here are my TIME TO WRAP IT UP thoughts.

No guilt. It’s 100% okay to do something enjoyable, whether or not it makes a larger contribution in some way or produces an income. If it contributes to your personal happiness, that is MUY IMPORTANTE! Nurture yourself. Buy and read that book. Watch that movie. Go out with that group of friends once a month. Take that class. Take time to write. Be good to yourself. It’s been said many times by many people that taking care of yourself allows you to be there MORE for others. I can vouch for that.
You matter too. YOU wouldn’t deny ANYONE ELSE the right to take time for themselves; time to relax, to create, to soak in life. YOUR need for that time is ABSOLUTELY as important as theirs.
Think about the BIG PICTURE for the day and find a balance. – What is the feeling you want to have at the end of the day? How do you want to use your time? Make a plan and go for it! Don’t forget to do nice things for yourself too.

If I think about my day at this point (I’m embarrassed to say what time it is now) and what I’d like to accomplish, then I know what I need to do to make it happen. I can take an honest look at what’s most important to me for the day, when I think about the feeling I want to have when I go to sleep tonight. It might mean I don’t finish this post right now. I know making progress on the house would FEEL GREAT. I know that if I don’t haul butt upstairs and organize, then while I’m at work tomorrow and Jason moves stuff over to the new house, he gets to decide what gets moved and what gets tossed.

Uhm…yeah…gotta go!

I really enjoyed reading your responses to the last post so let’s do that again 🙂

What is it you love to do or would love to do more of? Are you good about making time to do it? Leave your answer here or over on Facebook.

Moving On

October 3, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 1 Comment

A year ago our family of 7 moved out of our 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1,000 square foot home into my brother in law’s spacious old farm house on 5 acres. We’ve been renting the upstairs of the house while we attempted to save a chunk of cash.

It’s been a good year. There was lots of brother bonding time, lots of mini farm life fun with goats, chickens, turkeys, puppies, and a duck, and lots of zombie watching.

The year wasn’t all fun and zombies though. We had our share of drama. It’s hard sharing living space with another family. My brother in law was very brave to take on the chaos that is our family.

This past week Jason and I drove by a cute little house with a for rent sign in the window. There is a ridiculous shortage of decent rental property in our tiny town so we called right on the spot, met the homeowner within an hour, put down a deposit, and signed a lease the following day.

We are so excited about the new house! We’re excited about moving on.

Moving on can be sad or scary when it’s a move you didn’t choose for yourself, like losing your job, divorce, illness, or the death of a loved one. It can be really hard to do but it’s still necessary. We can choose to stay in the pain but that won’t be good for us and it won’t be good for anyone around us. So here are 3 of my personal goals for moving on.

1. BE PRESENT
Have fun.
Embrace the challenge.

I’m going to accept this sudden move in all it’s chaotic disorder. I’m going to relax. I’m going to do what I can each day to help it go smoothly, but I’m also going to take time to do things that bring me joy, like write this blog post, the 3rd one in 1 week! And…make sure we have some Fall Break Fun with our kids.

2. BE THANKFUL

This past week a woman who lives in a house like this

told me and my husband that she was embarrassed to tell her clients where she lives because they live in houses like this.

Her housing dilemma helped me realize that the poorest of us spoiled Americans, myself included, can benefit from reality checks every so often so we can remember to be thankful for all we DO have. I’m choosing to be thankful for our little rental house with heat in the winter, cold in the summer, and clean drinking water. For the first time in 15 years, we’re going to have 2 toilets!!! The second potty doesn’t even come with a sink, but who cares? I’ll be happy anywhere as long as I get to live with these goofballs.

3. GET RID OF THE JUNK
This is an opportunity to get rid of our junk. Even though we got rid of bags and bags of toys, clothes, and kitchen gadgets we never used in our old house, we never fully unpacked here and then we collected even more stuff. We have an opportunity to weed out again, to take what we love and discard the rest.

Besides physical stuff, there’s emotional crap to leave behind as well. My husband and I separated in August of 2012 for 9 months. When we decided to reconcile, we merely coexisted for 1 ½ years. I wrote a couple of posts about it last year when I was exploring my feelings on how to go about reconnecting. This resulted in a “talk” in December about possibly calling it quits for good. At that point we made the decision to recommit. It’s been almost a year of connectedness, but I’ve been holding on to some of the relationship “junk.” I’m making a commitment to let it go and leave it behind. I’m looking forward to a fresh start in our new home where we’ve only ever loved and been committed to each other.

“Don’t look back. You’re not going that way.”

While I’m leaving emotional junk behind, I’m going to leave as much as I can bag up and throw away (which it just occurred to me that we can choose to do this EVERY DAY if we’ll only remember to do so.)

When I leave this house, I’m choosing to see myself as a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, ready to soar. I’m leaving my feelings of insecurity, guilt, and failure in the cocoon. I’m enough. I’m enough every day and so are you! We don’t have to carry old baggage around with us.

That baggage is a story. It may be a story based on actual events but it’s still a story. It may be a story you are telling yourself or it may be a story that someone else has been telling you your whole life about WHO YOU ARE and how you do things, but you can choose to change the story at any point as many times as you want to, EVERY DAY even. You are not stuck! You have the power to write your story and make it beautiful. Don’t give your power away. Don’t let anyone else write your story. If it’s not a happy one, for Pete’s sake, change it. Only you can.

If you want to change your story but don’t know how or where to start, I encourage you to consider What Every Person Can Do. I’m here to answer questions and support you any way I can!

How To Have A Great Day

September 27, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

Friday was a GREAT day! I got the kids on the bus, made a quick call to Bill to catch up with him after his recent workshops in England. I got off the phone and decided to take a little bit of quiet time and plan my day and maybe even write a little before tackling the house. It was a wreck. I’ve been working 3 twelve hour days a week for a little over a month. On my days off, instead of staying home and cleaning, I’ve been off with Jason in search of fun inventory for The Awesome Possum or house hunting.

I sat down with a cup of coffee and started writing. I don’t do it enough and I REALLY enjoy it. There are ALWAYS other tasks that need to be done and I’ve felt so stifled creatively, but the words flowed that morning. As I was wrapping up my post (you can read it here) I got a text.

My friend Beth wanted to drive 40 minutes to see me. Panic set in. I wanted to spend time with her. We haven’t seen each other in 6 months but she couldn’t possibly come over. Beth is so organized and put together. She’s one of my oldest friends and has seen my messy house many times but this time was different. She’s got 8 month old Finlee now and I couldn’t imagine that sweet baby on my dirty floor. My vehicle decided to give me grief a week ago and we’re down to 1 car for the time being, so I couldn’t meet her anywhere. I told her she couldn’t come over but we could go out to eat.

You’d have thought I was going on a date the way I prepared for lunch. Like I said, Beth is ALWAYS put together (for example she and 8 month old Finlee were both wearing WHITE! AND STAYED CLEAN!!!) but she also works for a dentist. I took extra care brushing with toothpaste and hydrogen peroxide for EXTRA bright teeth. I don’t get out enough 🙂

We had a nice lunch and then went to a few little shops around my tiny town in search of birthday presents for a couple of friends, to no avail.

When she dropped me back off, I went inside and started cleaning. I worked for a few hours. The kids got home from school in the middle of the cleaning stint. I could’ve cleaned for days, but settled for the downstairs being good enough. We ordered pizza and watched Hocus Pocus. CLASSIC! The girls loved it.

I fell asleep during the second movie but when we moved upstairs to bed, I got a second wind and stayed awake until around 2:00 watching Friends on Netflix. I’m so not okay with the fact that all of those actors and actresses are now in their 50’s and I’m quickly approaching 40.

There was nothing extraordinary about the day but it felt special. It felt complete. I love days that feel complete. They occur more often when I take time to think about my day, when I take time to do Self Care. When I don’t take time to “set my intentions” for the day or to recognize that life is going by quickly (Jennifer Aniston is 50 for crying out loud!) then I’m just reacting to what life hands me instead of creating a day that feels complete.

Yesterday wasn’t a great day for me. I didn’t take time to get grounded in my well being. I didn’t take time to pray/do Self Care. I woke up and fell into the day. I chose to dwell on some pretty unpleasant thoughts ALL DARN DAY. I KEPT on choosing them over and over. I kept choosing to look at a picture that triggered the thoughts. It was a choice. I created my unpleasant day. It was rough. There was a happy period in the day when my kids asked me to play games with them. As you’ll recall, the upstairs of the house hadn’t been cleaned yet. I told my son I had work to do and he insisted I take time to play. I’m so glad I did.

Anyway, this morning I woke up a little down and these thoughts helped me get back on track this morning and I hope they’ll be of use to you too.

Don’t get going on your day just yet. What do you want from today? How are you going to live today fully? What do you want to do with your time? Who would you like to spend time with? How do you want to feel at the end of the day? Think about it.

Now…you’re ready. Make it a great day.

For more on Self Care click here and here.

If you’re struggling or dealing with a loved one in pain, check out What Every Person Can Do. It’s incredibly affordable. 12 weeks of support for what 1 hour of counseling would cost! But…and I know this firsthand, even reasonably priced is not an option sometimes, so don’t write this off. Partial and full scholarships are available for those that need them and are serious about going through the work. If you have questions for me, you can get in touch with me here.

Dream A Little Dream

September 25, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

Once upon a time there was a woman, not a girl because 37 year olds are women, even though she still felt very much like a girl some days. This girl, I mean woman spent 4 years spilling over with positivity and hope for a brighter future for her family and all people everywhere. She got tired of being positive all the time. She quit dreaming and went to work in a peanut butter and jelly factory where the rest of her creativity and positivity was squelched entirely. THE END

PSYCH!

This woman went to work in a peanut butter and jelly factory, the PERFECT job for any mommy, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (Oh yeah, sorry for that crust on your kids uncrusted sandwich.) She went to work and she kept right on dreaming. She dreamed of working an extra day a week and all the ways she could spend that money on her kids or watching the savings add up. She dreamed of going back to school. She dreamed of volunteering on her days off. She’d always wanted to do some volunteer work. She dreamed of making a cozy home for her family. She dreamed of baking and doing art projects with her girls on the weekend. She dreamed of reading to those little girls at bedtime. She dreamed of writing more than once every 3 months. She dreamed of preparing a meal other than spaghetti to impress her husband, the primary dinner maker. She dreamed of grocery store trips and special time out with one child a week, even the grown one. She dreamed of eating healthy. She dreamed of date nights. She dreamed of working with her mentor full time. She dreamed up a few non-profit organizations and imagined the women and children benefiting from their services. She dreamed of confidence and the right words to say at the right time. She dreamed of making people laugh, especially her husband and kids. She dreamed of road trips and vacations and freedom. Yes, she was a dreamer and she was also a doer, even though she didn’t give herself enough credit for the doing that she did, after all she was just one girl…I mean woman. She felt like she was all dreams, no action. She reminded herself that she couldn’t possibly do all of those things at once, but she could do some of them.

She dreamed up an idea to encourage women on Facebook because she was overflowing with enthusiasm when she learned that she could create her life, that she had more POWER than she ever dreamed possible. She created the page and started posting. It was just like Field of Dreams. She built it and they came and she was so grateful for their presence and mutual encouragement.

Keep dreaming friends but don’t stop there. Pick a dream and RUN WITH IT! I’ll do the same. I’m picking the cozy home dream today. It’s ANYTHING BUT at the moment. I’ve got my day’s work cut out for me.

Self Sabotage

June 30, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

Hey there! Thanks for clicking and reading this post 🙂

I haven’t been making time to write and the rare moments I sit down to do so, my brain feels all clogged up. I even put off writing by cleaning. That feels bizarre but I also like the results I’m getting.

There are a few reasons that I can see that I’m not writing consistently.

1. Lack of confidence/fear- What if it’s not clever enough, like Marc and Angel who hack everything there is in life to hack? What if it doesn’t provide any value?

2. Perfectionism- I put so much pressure on myself to make sure everything I write is the right combination of words. It takes way too long to compose what should be a quick Facebook post, email, or Birthday card. What takes the average person 2 minutes to write, takes me 10. No joke.

3. Lack of discipline/time management- I can squeeze in 15 or 30 minutes into my now super duper busy schedule. I’m working a full time job now and have about four hours a day to get done what needs to get done. That’s housework, a side job, family time, and writing projects. That’s a pretty tall order, but not impossible. There’s also about an hour in the middle of the night, when I get home from work, that I’m wide awake and have been spending watching Netflix as I get sleepy.

Steve Chandler, the man I credit for flipping the switch on my thinking with his book 100 Ways To Motivate Yourself, sent out this recent email. At first I didn’t connect with it at all, but as I was procrastinating, by doing housework and filling up my four hours with everything but writing, it came back to me and STUCK.

Robert Kegan quotes William Perry, a favorite
teacher of psychology of his at Harvard, “Whenever
someone comes to me for help, I listen very hard and
ask myself, ‘What does this person really want–
and what will they do to keep from getting it?'”

This is a question worth asking ourselves (and our
clients when they come to us for help.)

What do I really want, and what will I do to
keep from getting it?

My first night at work, my trainer asked me what I did before coming to this job. I told him that I’d mostly been a stay at home mom and worked a few part time jobs over the years. I hesitated and then decided to share about the last four years of personal development and my desire to share what’s worked for me with others. He was very curious about the What One Person Can Do program. Each break, he’d ask me to tell him more. As we talked, I knew this program could support him in his situation.

All of that to say, THAT’s one of the things I want to be doing! I want to be spreading the news about THAT program that had a SIGNIFICANT impact on the way I live my life, a life that used to be riddled with worry and stress and is now positive and more often than not, worry free.

There’s still a ton of circumstances I could be freaking out about on a daily basis, but I’ve learned to do what I can and go on to have a VERY enjoyable day, EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRISIS. I WANT THAT FOR EVERYBODY!

Here are the things I have control over, keeping me from having what I want.

1. Lack of confidence–Telling myself I’m not qualified to share. You know, I need some letters behind my name or something. (Side note–I mentioned to my trainer that I know I’m holding myself back because I’ve been “just a mom” for all these years to which he replied, “That probably makes you MORE qualified.” THANKS MISTER!)

2. Perfectionism–If I can’t do this well, because of the lack of letters behind my name, then I might as well not do it at all.

3. Lack of discipline–not writing and sharing daily.

And here are my 3 responses to myself where all of the negativity and holding myself back is concerned.

1. Everybody has something to contribute. We’ve all learned valuable lessons from our experiences. I’ve experienced peace in the middle of times of trouble and that’s not something you learn in college. Someone else can experience stress free times too if I’ll just open my mouth.

2. I need to get started and let GOOD ENOUGH be enough, because I am NEVER going to be perfect and really I don’t want to be. I’ll do my best and have a great time doing so.

3. Make contact daily, even if it’s one small task or a 15 minute writing session.

There are many things that I want and I need to get good and clear on how it all looks, but for now I’m starting with writing more and sharing What One Person Can Do as well as the online version What Every Person Can Do. Wish me luck!

What about you? What do you do to keep yourself from having what you REALLY want? Leave a comment below if you feel like sharing. I’d love to hear from you 🙂

Sarah Boucher happily encourages women to grow in their power daily at I Am A Powerful Woman. Come join the conversation there. If you have questions about What One Person Can Do or the online version, email sarahboucher@iamapowerfulwoman.net or bill@oneperson.net with What One Person Can Do in the subject line.

I Want Balance, Lots and Lots of Balance

April 30, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

You know those days when there’s nothing to be upset about but you just feel down or unsettled? I’ve been feeling that way lately and I discovered the reason while listening to a Zig Ziglar audio a few days ago.

Zig was talking about the 7 areas of our life that, when worked on, leave us feeling a sense of balance and set us up to lead a more successful life. As he was talking, I recognized that my life is pretty dang unbalanced and knew instantly what was bothering me the most and how to fix it.

Another reason I get frustrated and feel “off” from time to time is because I try to tackle all 7 areas at once. I’m all over the place and I’ve struggled to move forward with any consistency in any one of these areas.

Why am having so much difficulty moving forward?

Bill and I discuss this problem in today’s video. (We had a technical glitch at the end but the audio continues.)

Sarah, I, 4_24_15 from Bill Cumming on Vimeo.

If you missed last week’s video, click here.

For the Ziglar audio, click here. (There’s a big pause halfway through the audio but it picks back up after a couple of minutes.)

I truly appreciate your presence in the P-dub Hub and over on Facebook! Feel free to share your thoughts or questions about everything posted. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Post inspiring videos, songs, and posts on the wall.

What I’d really really love is if YOU share your experience of growing in your POWER, accomplishments (big or little as much and often as you’d like to share) or a post about the women in your life who inspire you.

So let the sharing begin!

I’m so happy to be connected to each of you and want only the best for YOU!

Sarah

P.S. I’d like to encourage you, if you’re struggling or dealing with a loved one in pain, to check out What Every Person Can Do. It’s incredibly affordable. 12 weeks of support for what 1 hour of counseling would cost! But…and I know this firsthand, even reasonably priced is not an option sometimes, so don’t write this off. Partial and full scholarships are available for those that need them and are serious about going through the work.

Loving Kindness, Relationships, and Parenting

April 23, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

I’m EXCITED to share with you the first, of what I hope will be many, short recorded discussions with Bill Cumming, founder of The Boothby Institute. Bill has been my mentor and friend for four years. His program What Every Person Can Do, now available in an online course as well as one on one, has been a life changer for me. I consider it an honor to know him and work with him on projects. I walk away from every conversation wanting others to be able to benefit from his loving kindness and friendship too.

Bill has no desire to be in the lime light. His work is to point everybody back to themselves and the power, peace, and love that is in each of us, so that we can live joyful lives and the world will be a healthier safer place for all of us. I’d be okay with that.

This video is LOADED with takeaways. (I was not as angry as I look. I promise.)

Bill touches on unconditional love in healthy relationships and in parenting, what that kind of love feels like, and how to stay calm when the kids are pushing all of your buttons.

zoom_3 from Bill Cumming on Vimeo.

I’d LOVE your feedback. Was this video useful? Would you like to hear more about any of the subjects talked about in this video? Do you have other questions about any area of your life or concern that you’d like Bill and I to address next? I’m looking forward to your comments!

I’d like to encourage you, if you’re struggling or if you are dealing with a loved one in pain, check out What Every Person Can Do. It’s incredibly affordable. 12 weeks of support for what 1 hour of counseling would cost! But…and I know this firsthand, even reasonably priced is not an option sometimes, so don’t write this off. Partial and full scholarships are available for those that need them and are serious about going through the work.

Thanks for watching and thanks for your feedback.

Sarah

My International Women’s Day Story

February 5, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

My International Women’s Day Story

I first heard about IWD on March 9th, 2012, one day too late to observe it. I was curious and spent time online finding out what the day was about and how it’s celebrated around the world. It’s FASCINATING to me that this day originated in the United States in 1909. I bet you could do a survey of 100 people and zero would know about it, or they’ve only heard about it recently and don’t really care. Well I do care and I promised myself that I’d be ready for it the following year.

Sure enough on March 8th, 2013 about 4:00 PM, I saw a Facebook post that reminded me that I was missing yet another IWD. DRATS!

Last year, I was bound and determined not to miss it. The question I faced was how was I going to celebrate the day?

From my first year of online research I learned that IWD is kind of like Mother’s Day in other countries. Men and children bring women flowers and presents to honor them. This was verified last year when I asked my friend from Bosnia if she celebrated International Women’s Day. Her eyes lit up as she told me about it.
Another way for women to observe the day is by crossing a bridge together to symbolize unity.
One suggestion was to spend the day watching movies about POWERFUL women.
I also saw something about wearing lipstick.

Well, I seldom wear makeup and I’m most certainly not going to cross a bridge alone, so I thought about what the day means to me and how I might observe it.

I wanted to make sure to honor both women’s strength and femininity.

The Plan

#1 Look Back

Think about the progress other women and men have made in women’s rights and be thankful for the opportunities available to me to choose who and what I want to be.

I bought the book Heroes for My Daughter by Brad Meltzer to look at with my girls to accomplish #1.

#2 Look Around

My budget for the day was tiny. I planned for my daughters and I to celebrate the day by doing something a little girly (going out to eat and possibly a small shopping trip, like a necklace from Claire’s.)

We got a late start and the day didn’t go exactly as planned. We ended up eating at the mall and then grabbing a small bouquet of flowers. We divided it three ways and delivered flowers to a few women we wanted to honor. I enjoyed that part the most.

#3 Look Forward Personally and Globally

My goal for #3 was for the girls and I to pick a cause to support for the year. There are so many worthy causes and I liked the idea of giving myself permission to change causes on IWD each year. #FAIL

Besides a cause to support, I also thought it would be a good idea for my girls and I to set a personal challenge or goal to help us grow for the year. Also #FAIL.

I didn’t expect the year to go by so quickly. I’ll give it another shot this year.

The New Plan

I’m glad I was able to do a little something last year, but I hope to meet last year’s goals and mark the day in a grander way this time around.

I would love to cross a bridge with a group of women, but there aren’t any local bridge crossings and so I hope to gather some of my favorite girls and women together. In my mind and hopefully in reality, we’ll eat yummy food and have meaningful conversations about how blessed we are and how we might make a difference for women in our country who are struggling and elsewhere that don’t have the same opportunities we have.

There is much to be done, to quote my friend Bill Cumming, “in order to have a world that works for everyone.”

So what about you? What might you do on March 8th to celebrate or honor the women in your life or to help further not only women’s rights but human rights? Will you let the day pass with indifference or will you make a plan to make a difference? Maybe a good starting point this year is sharing this post. Next year, you can up the action by getting together with some friends or spending the day with your daughter and telling her a little bit about how blessed she is to be a woman in the 2000’s as opposed to the 1800’s or early to mid 1900’s. Perhaps the following year, we’ll be walking across a bridge together somewhere. I look forward to that day.

Give Me Something to Believe In

January 7, 2015 / Sarah Boucher / 0 Comments

What do Santa Claus, chickens, and world peace have to do with each other? I’d say not much, but I somehow managed to connect them here in this first and possibly only Word of the Week video.

I thought it would be easy to crank out a video a week, but I might have overestimated what I’m capable of here. So, I’m going to call it the Word of the Week anyway, but it might be more like Word of the Every Other Week, Word of the Month, or Word of the Quarter.