Balance for Better - International Womens Day

Happy international Women’s Day! 

It’s so inspiring to see so many women (and men) embracing International Women’s Day. The fact that there is now an International holiday that celebrates and empowers women speaks volumes about how far women have come in society. Though there is no doubt that we, as a society, still have things that need to change, like being able to walk home without holding your keys in your hands, not being afraid to ask for a pay rise when being promoted, having to order drinks from a bottle to reduce the risk of being drugged at a party with your friends, or not being harassed when walking to dinner by a group of rowdy drunk men sprawling out of the pub (the list goes on and on.) It is fair to say that noise is being made on the subject and International Women’s Day is a great platform to take pride in how far we’ve come and have faith in how far we will go. 

What is International Women’s Day? 

Before doing my research, I thought International Women’s Day was not much more than a trending hashtag on social media. What I discovered, is that International Women’s day has been celebrated worldwide on March 8 since 1975, before social media was even invented. 

The idea was to raise awareness for political and social equality for women; each year centres around a particular theme and the theme for this years International women day is #BalanceForBetter. As the name suggests, the aim of the theme is to encourage gender balance in all business, media and social situations and eventually help close the pay gap.

The theme made me think about the word balance on a less political scale, I think that, sometimes women need reminding that it’s important to make sure we are allowing time in our lives for ourselves and the small little things we enjoy. Like taking 10 minutes to ourself to enjoy a coffee, or photography, or just taking a moment to breath in some fresh air. Whatever it is that brings you joy, I encourage you to do it for 10/15 minutes in your day because that small amount of time being with yourself can have a huge positive impact on your day. 

 Women are amazing, and I’m lucky to have so many strong women around me, my mum, my boyfriends mum, my sisters, my girlfriends and I often think “wow how does she do it!” when i’m hearing about my friends busy schedules and constant energy, or my friends early starts and late finishes at the law firm. And it blows me away the strength of the women around me who have been through hell and back and have the biggest smiles and are always there for me should I need them. Especially in todays society, and I think it can be hard to manage everything life throws at us. There is a lot of pressure on women to be able to balance everything that comes our way, and to excel in everything we put our hand to. At times it feels like it’s a competition, who can get the most done in a day, who’s working the most jobs, who’s got a busier schedule. All because we feel a need to prove ourselves to everyone else around us. To the women who are up gymed, showered, and fulled by 5am ready for their day who don’t get home until 8pm, I salute you! But I also salute the women who have to gather all the energy they can just to get out of bed and face the day ahead because it’s hard to feel one hundred percent everyday.  

I know how much it can lift my spirit to have a girlfriend say “yes i know how you feel?” or “Me too.” I love how open women are with each other and I think it’s partly what makes us so strong and empowered so on this International Women’s Day, while the politicians, bosses, leaders are tackling those big issues like pay gap equality, or gender discrimination laws, i’ll be making sure that the women in my life know how truly amazing they are and how valuable they are to empowering other women around them just like me. 

And just to keep with the Balance for Better theme I thought should mention that there is an international mens day in November and it is a day which focuses on boys and mens mental heath, relationship roles and highlights positive male role models. Which is equally as important. 

So let’s remember to encourage, praise and inspire other women around us, because it’s no doubt that we are all trying our best to be our best!