One step, one day, one woman at a time.

Is it just ME, or do you, too have to pause a moment to think about how you truly feel about statements, such as this, from Bishop Desmond Tutu….

Dear friends, We men have made a mess of things. I want a world run by women! I think we are beginning to realise that we cannot have a fair world, a peaceful world, when we exclude half the population. It is not right that a child of God should be condemned to a life that is less than full, just because she is a girl. Give her the power to become all she can be and her world – which is ours, too – will be transformed.

I certainly respect and appreciate the humility of this statement.  So too, do I admire what I take as public acknowledgment that which the world collectively holds to be true.

On this day, March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day; a day to celebrate how far women have come and to look forward to all we can and must still do.  Celebrated by women Heads of State in the grandest of venues, women who live in conditions hard to believe could still exist in 2014 and every possible scenario in between, this is, indeed a day women should be proud of.  The tradition of this day should be sustained, triumphed over and shared in the corners of even the most remote of places where women have yet to find their voices.

Beyond that, which we should take as nothing short of obvious, here is where I have a problem…..my opinion, nothing more…

The world is in the condition it is because of exclusion.  Women were excluded from decision-making positions for centuries; but not really!  Women always made decisions when it came to family matters, how money was spent, how the house was run.  From where I sit, we always  held positions of great power; we just weren’t permitted to transfer that ‘power’ to the masses.

So, men did.  So…here we all are!

I don’t believe men did a bad job; at least not on purpose.  I believe they did an incomplete job, at best.  That’s because women were excluded on the ‘public’ platform.  The imbalance, which was the natural by-product. Perpetuated too long, things got out of hand, the pendulum swung wildly and men, like Desmond Tutu, the Dali Lama, Warren Buffet, former United States President Jimmy Carter and others have been awakened to the notion that, as always, women can solve todays’ global problems.

Women have extraordinary contributions to make to today’s world’ she always has.  But to task her with its complete redemption is to cause the pendulum to swing as wildly in another direction that over time  will create a mess all its own.

I believe the solutions always has – and always will be – a world of inclusion.  Here’s why I believe this to be true…

At the core of civilization is the family structure.  When the family structure functions so as to identify and implement to best talents of each member, the strengths of individuals, it, the family, will automatically be stronger.

When family after family turns out in and among the masses, that strength will be exponential and everyone benefits.

Can you imagine a meritorious world?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful!

Brain-power over beauty, empowerment over entitlement, the right and the option to participate how you chose to participate, to feed, rather than be fed. 

Do I dare to dream too much?  

The 2014 Winter Olympics recently reminded us of the unifying power of sports.  Title 9 Laws make possible for girls in the United States to have equal rights: school budgets, scholarship, equipment, and recognition equal to that of their male counterparts; that’s a good thing and I believe it is a sign of things to come.

Given the same opportunity, girls can achieve as highly as boys in everything.  When that right is spread across and around the world and we approach politics, the rights to learn and equality to earn, we will automatically establish an inclusionary world.  From that will come balance, harmony, vertical perspectives and better outcomes.

My sincere hope is that International Women’s Day will continue until such time as it transitions to a historical day when we recall how the world used to be and celebrate how much better it has become.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, believe that a world that is inclusionary over exclusionary is a world that serves us all, for the right reasons and with more positive results?

To my family: Mom and Dad, all my brothers & sisters

 and my husband who encouraged and supported

me whenever I took the road less travelled.