How To Be Your Sister's Keeper
Check out the latest from my EBONY.com column, “The Spiritual Life,” “5 Ways to Be Your Sister’s Keeper“:
During the month of May, EBONY.com is celebrating sisterhood with our “Women Up! Black Women Rising” editorial series. While some of our most cherished relationships are with other women, there is a pervasive narrative that would have us believe that women don’t –and can’t–get along. But with all of the negative images about Black women that we ingest daily through the media, we cannot afford to be fighting amongst ourselves or avoiding each other because we believe the hype and stereotypes about who we are. We will not make it long in this world–professionally or personally–without a strong network of women in our corner. So here are five ways you can start seeing women as sisters instead of adversaries.
1) Cheer women on. We have internalized the myth that a woman’s success or happiness somehow chips away at our own success or happiness. But it just isn’t so. If another woman gets a job opportunity you wanted, celebrate her, be inspired to keep aiming high, and continue to buck a system that teaches you that only a few women get to succeed. Likewise, If the boyfriend in your head is having a real-life relationship with some other woman, congratulate that woman! (Ex., “Good for you, girlfriend of Idris Elba!”)
Because contrary to popular belief, dating is not a zero-sum game: just because you’re not with the man you may have wanted, it doesn’t mean your man has been taken from you. Thank God you’ve been spared from creating (or continuing) an unnecessary history with someone who was never intended to be for you. Release your clenched fists, open up your hands and patiently wait (and work) for what God specifically has for you.
Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/the-spiritual-life-5-ways-to-be-your-sisters-keeper-847#ixzz2TIYJeHlu
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