Competition

This began as some thoughts on competition in business, but I had to post here on a more personal level. Topic: women and competition. Throughout our history of trying to break through the glass ceiling, women have struggled on so many levels. The responsibilities, fears and freedoms of being a woman, wife, mom. Let's face it, as women we have so much on our plate. Regardless of how many children you have, being a mom is tough...the lack of time for yourself, the endless tasks to complete..whether it be school involvement, a job outside the home, finances, shuttling kids to playdates and practices, teaching the lessons important in life and keeping them generally out of trouble. We all know that our job is not just a matter of bringing home a paycheck (bitchy comment, yes..but we're venting here) The whole 50/50 thing is more like 80/20 if we're lucky...and that's if you're married. In the chaos that is our lives, it seems that we could come together and help each other out. Why are the stay at home moms always thinking that working moms have it easier, and vise-versa? We are all moms...we are all women. We all want the same things. Instead of tearing each other down..let's support each other in our dreams, as well as our responsibilities. The national women's conference was last month hosted by Maria Shriver with some amazing women speaking on issues we all face. It's refreshing to hear powerful women speaking of the difficult times they have with their own children, and day-to-day challenges. A friend of mine went and wrote about some of the important ideas that stayed with her. It was really stiring to me so I wanted to share a portion of it:

Arnold Schwarzenegger & Warren Buffet spoke... and agreed that more equality is still needed for women in politics. Elections this year have shown America is ready for change! Enormous intellectual and conscientious role by women is not new but more appreciated now than in the past.

Maria Shriver, First Lady of California... What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life? Usually it is fear that holds us back from fear to freedom. If you do not feel fear, you don't feel courage. You cannot wait until the fear goes away to take action. The fear goes away when you take action. She shared a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Staying in fear keeps you from believing in yourself. You must do one thing every day that scares you." Stop, slow down and connect. Nurture one another. We are here to love one another, connect and sea. Listening is love. We empower. As moms, we are doing our best.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN was so interesting and insightful speaking about how women can be the architects of change... There are more women elected to high office in other countries than in the United States. We expect the best and the brightest in every profession so why not with politics and with journalists. We need to use success and power to create change both locally and nationally.

Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State was so right when she said... Women need to help other women! She also went on to talk about how wrong it is for women to bring each other down. She also spoke about how to be effective and active without being angry. Respect the women before you that have been the generations of change.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State shared... we need to continue to teach girls that they can be anything if we are going to continue to break through the glass ceiling. Don't let someone else define who you "ought to be". Do what you love. There needs to be equal access to education for everybody. It does not matter where you came from, it matters where you are going.

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo... The glass ceiling will be broken when all women help other women. Women need to learn to trust other women.

Cherie Blair, Human Rights Advocate and Wife of Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said... Change comes when men and women work together equally. Being more subtle as an advocate is more effective. Do it as a woman... We do not have to do it the same way as a man. Find your voice and let it be a woman's voice.

The final messages I left with were...

Use your voice to change the world!

Women need to learn to trust other women.

What are you going to do with your

one wild and precious life?