Celebrating Myself

International Women’s day this month has infused a contagious enthusiasm all over the web world. Everybody seems to be talking about celebrating “womanhood”. I had heard of celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, baby showers and even break-ups (!!) but celebrating myself? That seemed a little strange to me.

But it did force me to think about myself and about things that are nice and worth applauding. And that’s when I concluded, why not? If I can celebrate days and dates and special occasions, there are ample reasons to celebrate me, the person within and as seen by people around me.

To celebrate is to rejoice and to honor. To me, it also means acknowledgement of who I am without being apologetic. If I have to celebrate myself, I cannot just skip the uncomplimentary part and exult in what shines. I have my quirks and I have my virtues. I try not to succumb to my limitations and often succeed. Far from perfect, that is what describes me and that may just be the reason for celebrating me.

People call me stubborn and adamant and that may well be true

For, I do not give in easily on things even if they are miniscule

I argue, I plead and fight for what is mine

But a “please” from my children can easily sway me

And even a stranger’s disaster causes me a little grief.

Thrills and surprises, little gifts of affection

More than a decade of being in love hasn’t cured me

I like to make special days memorable and work hard to make them so

By now pretty much everybody in the house knows

If it’s a special day, something beholds.

I have little patience for tantrums; I love my beauty sleep

When I pick up a book I do not stop till I finish

These are just a few of the things that no longer hold true about me

My children came along and completely changed me

So now tantrums give me headaches but I still deal with them

Waking up twice in the night to warm up a bottle

Is as close I can get to perfect sleep

Returning unread books to the library no longer breaks my heart.

I am skeptical and cynical and say it as it is

I don’t care if someone’s mad with me as long as I say the truth

Injustice I can’t tolerate and often regret butting in

A miser and a dreamer, I rarely splurge on me

But if I have to go to the mall to buy gifts

I pick out the best from what there is 

I take life too sincerely and I know it for sure 
This particular trait unnerves people around me

After all who would play a game of cards
As if her life depended on it?

I can’t always be nice but I can often be kind

I can’t always be sweet, but I can forever be honest

I can’t always be amusing but I can at all times be reliable. 

There isn’t a thing about me that makes me special

And then there is everything in this world that sets me apart

Like every woman who knows her worth, I say it with ease;

Not even a day goes by when I do not celebrate ME.

This blog post is on its way to Women's Web..