I’ve learned some valuable things about life, love and being female over the past half-century. Here is the advice I try to pass on to younger women in my life (family and friends) in the hope that it will save them some precious time:
1. You are at least ten times prettier than you think you are. That holds true no matter how pretty you already think you are! Don’t believe me? Ask your mother/auntie/grannie if she thought she was pretty when she was twenty. She’ll say, “no.” Then find a photo of her at that age. See what I mean?
2. The only thing you should be faking is confidence. If you don’t have it yet, pretend you do. In every new situation, pretend you’re not nervous, pretend you’re not afraid. After a few times doing this, the pretend part disappears.
3. Want to try something new, like painting, skiing, running your own business? Go to the library and borrow ten different books on the subject. Skim through them all, find the ones that have the most vital information and study them. Then see number 2.
4. No matter how old you get, remember what it was like to be a nine-year old girl. Remember the feeling of freedom. If you’ve already forgotten, do a cartwheel. You can so still do one. Savour that feeling. Wake up with it every day. You’ll stay young until the day you die.
5. In the same vein, cut or potted flowers are never a waste of money. Because every time we glance at them, they remind us how much beauty there can be in the world.
6. Speaking of money, starting right this moment, whether you’re twenty or sixty, you can change your finances around. Don’t leave someone else completely in charge,whether it’s your husband, partner, parents or banker. Become financially saavy. Financial independence gives you the freedom to walk away from many bad situations. How do you know you’re in bad situation? See number seven.
7. If your stomach hurts and you haven’t got a virus, you’re in a bad situation. Before you know what it is, your stomach always does. Give yourself some time to ponder what it might be that’s making your stomach hurt. Chances are you already do know, you just don’t want to believe it, for some reason. You can ignore advice from your friends, even your own brain, but you can’t ignore your stomach, because the stomach never lies. Oh, and by the way? – Drowning your stomach in alcohol won’t make it stop telling you the truth, either.
8. When meeting someone new and he or she seems to be behaving like an assh*le, show compassion first. If after you display your sincere compassion, they are still acting like an assh*le, walk away. If they follow you, call the police.
9. Wear sun screen on your face, neck and hands every day, winter and summer. I don’t care how dark your skin naturally is. Wear it. You’ll remember me when you look in the mirror at age fifty. Always keep in mind that Your body is directly connected to your spirit. Look after your body. Exercise, floss and brush your teeth. Put nothing in your body that can permanently harm your spirit, including the wrong man.
10. And if you are in bed with a man and he’s the right man: …meaning your stomach doesn’t hurt, he’s smiling at you, he knows your name, he’s not drunk and neither are you–for god sakes–enjoy yourself. He is not at all thinking about how fat your thighs look.
About the Author: Patricia Volonakis Davis is also the author of Harlot’s Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss, and Greece, an Under the Tuscan Sun meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which has ranked in the top five in its category on Amazon.com, #1 in its category on Kindle, and is an Award-Winning Finalist in the Multi-cultural Non-fiction category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.
Valery Amador, Daily Venus Diva -- Daily Venus Diva.
Dear Stephanie:
What a very lovely thing to come across your wonderful site and find you have posted my article and information about me. I am so glad you enjoyed it enough to reprint it here!
Best wishes,
Patricia
You’re welcome Patricia!
So incredibly true!
I am printing this out and putting it up on my bathroom mirror. Great advice. Than you!
OH!MY GOODNESS!AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!MOTIVATING AND UPGRADING!
HELLO GREAT AUTHOR AND WISDOM WOMAN…MY NAME IS THANDO. I AM 17 AND LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA. AND PRETTY MUCH ALL I CAN SAY IS…I NEEDED THAT. I THINK I ALMOST FORGOT WHAT LIVING WAS ABOUT…EVEN AS YOUNG AS I AM. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO SUCCEED…ONE BECOMES OLD, BORING AND DEAD. THANK YOU….GREAT AUTHOR WISDOM WOMAN…I HOPE YOU DID THE SAME AND IF YOU DIDN’T…I’LL DO TEN CARTWHEELS FOR YOU EVERY MORNING. 9 FOR ME AND 1 FOR YOU….
My reply is for Thando. How lovely your comment was for me to hear. Thanks for the cartwheels! And once again, thanks to Stephanie Penn-Danforth for sharing my work!