The Beauty, Virtues and Strength of a Woman

What makes a woman beautiful? What makes her shine? What exalts her and causes her to be honored and respected? Her strength is deep. How does she thrive?

With my recent focus on setting up this site, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted any articles in a few weeks. Interestingly enough, this particular topic was not even on my mind. Then I came across an article by Steve Pavlina.

I discovered Steve Pavlina just a few weeks ago in April, read a few of his posts and perceived integrated wisdom coming from a very real place. Less than a week ago, I subscribed to his RSS feed. I didn’t look at it for a couple of days, and then in my reader, I saw this: “How to Be A Man” (2 days ago).

The Value of a Vision

I thought to myself, “Well, that’s interestingly bold. Hmm, let’s see what this is about. …but judging from most of what I’ve read of his, it’s bound to be pretty good. And if it is, our boys and young men could use some inspiration and guidance.”

(Our grown men too, for that matter. There’s no shame in improving one’s game. The only shame is in being too proud and stubbornly rejecting proper development for destructive, unfruitful, well-worn habits and conditioning. Therefore, a man who is honest with himself and others, and humbly persevering enough to admit defeat enough times to finally learn to find and follow the successful paths in life has all my admiration, respect and cooperation.)

So I read it, and yes, it did turn out to be a good read. At points, he had me saying, “Go ahead, man, tell it. Go ON with your bad self.” There is not one verse of scripture quoted, but I see godly principles of faith, integrity and sovereignty running all through that article. And then, at the end…

Steve threw out an offer to the community to write a female version. I said to myself, “Wow. I don’t know. Write “How To Be a Woman”. That’s a pretty big responsibility.” They are some pretty big shoes to fill to tell someone how to be a woman. I don’t dare claim to have all my ducks lined up in a row, lest I fall due to complacency or pride alone. There are certainly areas in which I can improve, but I decided to give it a shot, because I can share the vision of womanhood that inspires and guides me.

After all, in order to reach a goal, we’ve got to first have a vision of what it is, and what it’s supposed to look and feel like. In order to climb to a mountain peak, we need to see it and understand where it is. Until we do this, it matters not how near or far any of us are to any goal, since we can’t see the goal clearly enough to be able to advance toward it wisely and effectively, with vision and purpose.

The Strength of Womanhood

In keeping with my belief that at our core, we are all the same, I feel that much of Steve’s discourse on “How to Be a Man” applies to the woman as well.

Are there differences? I certainly think so, but the core qualities of inspiration from within, integrity, honor and faith remain. The difference is perhaps more one of tone, intuitive sensitivity, refinement and purpose - skillfully crafting our strength into a more gracious expression that nurtures children and loved ones, and that flows, inspires and cooperates harmoniously with the more masculine energies in life. I believe this is what distinguishes us from men.

Our strength is complementary and shines through our compassion and adaptability to the people in our world. We are motivators to friends, family, co-workers, bosses and employees. We are peacemakers, harmonizers. We are the glue that knits families together - that link Read more »