What is your definition of an inspiring woman?

My post today is for women and men. Often if you are a woman who cares for wellbeing of women and publicly promote female empowerment, you are automatically labelled as feminist and perhaps “anti-men”. One great thing I learnt is to stop worrying about labels. They exist but I no longer worry about them defining my life. What is so great about this post today is that it allows me to share my message and inspire also our male audience.

Since we set up this community group, I got to know many caring and inspiring men too. For me both women and men are equally important and I very much value both genders. Both contribute to my life significantly. Men play an important part in the life of every woman. Creating understanding, acceptance and mutual collaboration between women and men highly appeals to me. And most certainly, men just as well as women, can be inspired by women to live their life with passion, joy and fulfilment.

How do I define an inspiring woman?

Today I would like to share why we chose the words “Inspiring women”. I would also love to challenge your thoughts, definitions and encourage your appreciation. Often when I meet new people and they discover about our group, they start firing the questions:

“How do you define an inspiring woman? Isn’t it discriminating to call some women inspiring? Not every woman is!”

When we were deciding on the most appropriate name for the group, we all agreed that the word inspiring was the one for us. We not only loved it, we also agreed that it reflected the message we wanted to share. When I googled it, a very simple definition popped up: ‘having the effect of inspiring someone.’ That was it. I liked it but me being me, I wanted to dig deeper and look further. Then I discovered that the word inspire originates from a latin word inspirare that translates as ‘breathe or blow into’ from in- ‘into’ + spirare ‘breathe’. The word was originally used of a divine or supernatural being, in the sense ‘impart a truth or idea to someone’. I found this meaning truly mesmerizing. Don’t you?

So that is what our clever google said, but what does it mean for me? How do I define an inspiring woman? For me, an inspiring woman is simply a woman who can fill someone with the desire or urge to do something worthwhile. Something that creates a better world. It’s a woman who appreciates life with everything it has got to offer. Perhaps a woman, who lives her life free from definitions, constraints and attachment to generally accepted ideals and stereotypes of beauty and success.

How do I choose whether a woman is or is not inspiring?

The answer is, I do not choose. I genuinely believe that every woman (as well as man) has got the capacity to be inspiring. When I started searching for inspiring women (and people in general), I ended up thinking about the ordinary women who have done extraordinary things. I was not looking for women who make national headlines, earn loads of cash or look perfectly beautiful.

I was hungry to find, appreciate and celebrate women, who have the ability and willingness to be selfless, caring, innovative and perhaps daring to be different. Women who have a vision, an appealing aspiration and aren’t afraid to go for it. Women who experienced hardship, accepted a challenge and fought for something bigger. For me, the most appealing thing about inspiring women is their “ordinariness” and the presence of reality. Most often, these women go unnoticed.

As time goes by, we get lost in our daily routines and chores. Inspiring women of Southend are here to celebrate the greatness of inspiring women in our community. And hopefully, through this small gesture we can inspire more people over the world to take a moment to recognise and acknowledge the greatness of women in their lives and community.

These women deserve to be known, not because they crave the fame and recognition. Simply, because their attitude is infectious, their story sets a great example that something is possible. If they can do it, you can too.

So what is your definition of an inspiring woman? How many women that inspire you to live your life with passion, joy and fulfilment do you know? Have you shared with them why they matter to you and why you find them inspiring?

Don’t wait any longer. Inspiring women, inspiring people deserve to know you appreciate them. Most often, they don’t realise they have such great impact on your life. Do send them a short email or txt right now. Even better, do give them a quick phone call. A few words of appreciation and encouragement cause miracles. A few words of appreciation and encouragement will keep their flame of inspiration alive. After all, they grow inspiration around us and for us. Let’s keep the flame of inspiration lit together.

PS: We decided to look for women in our town, community and let the world know about their inspiring lives >>>