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I bought this one little book last year when I was in therapy. It's called "Believing in Myself: Daily Meditations for Healing and Building Self-Esteem" and it has a different quote and thing to think about for every day of the year.

So I'm digging through my boxes of stuff today, and what do I find? TA-DA.

So here's today's little meditation, if you will:

July 24: "Women have felt the need to pretend to be happy in order to be feminine." --Gloria Steinem

Responsible people do what they have to do. Figuring out what we have to do, unfortunately, is a lot harder than it looks. How many "shoulds" should we listen to? How many are true? Should we really behave, think, and feel differently than we do? Who says so?
Those of us who are females with families have been held responsible for too many "shoulds." In our efforts to be everything to everybody, we've too often become nobody to ourselves-- always standing at the end of the line when wants and needs being addressed. Obviously this doesn't do a lot for our self-esteem. What's even worse is the popular culture's insistence that we should be happy about it.
But unrealistic ideals are not healthy. no one should be bullied into pretending happiness-- or accepting responsibility for other people's happiness. Because the goal itself is false, pursuing that goal diminishes self-esteem.
In general, pretending is of little use in building a better, happier life. Pretending that is grounded in delusion and denial is not true femininity or true anything else that has any value.
I am free to choose my own goals and the means of achieving them.