After a break for the holidays I AM THAT GIRL was ready to start off the new year, helping all our members find their inner badass. Recently I started dating myself and found who I truly am. I fell in love with how much of a badass I was hiding under my rock, and ran with it. Ever since this moment of epiphany, I have been a much happier person and couldn’t wait to empower the women around me. So it was a no brainer to me what the topic of this meeting was going to be: Stop Apologizing for Who You Are – Loving Your Inner Badass.
My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can’t be loved as I am. —Anais Nin
Our meetings started off as usual; declaring ourselves badasses! We went around our circle sharing “I am a badass because ______” and gave our specifics. Unlike our first meeting, everyone was more than eager to gloat about themselves and we were all eager to listen. Not only did everyone respectively listen, they provided positive feedback to each and every one (which also led us to off topic discussions, but that’s okay, I didn’t let everyone veer off course too far). Even two new members were excited to jump in and declare themselves badasses with little to no hesitation. I secretly was jumping up and down screaming inside, because this is just what our town needs. Women are starting to feel empowered, encouraged and safe enough through our group to declare their self-worth.
Now time for why everyone came to this meeting, to learn ways to love their inner badass. Everyone has one (yes, including you) you just have to find it and embrace it. Since we love open discussions in our meetings I decided to focus on a short blog article by Gala Darling called Radical Self Love Homework Assignments. This allowed plenty of time to talk, brain storm and encourage each other.
Not one single member was quiet during the open discussion. We focused on owning who we truly are. And stop lying to others around us. We have to stop apologizing for who we are, what we do and the way we want to live our life. Instead focus the energy on changing ourselves to fit in, to own who we are and what makes us happy. One member even shared how she used to change who she was depending on who she was around that eventually became a tangled web of lies that was exhausting to keep up with.
Do the things you used to talk about doing but never did. Know when to let go and when to hold on tight. Stop rushing. Don’t be intimidated to say it like it is. Stop apologizing all the time. Learn to say no, so your yes has some oomph. Spend time with the friends who lift you up, and cut loose the ones who bring you down. Stop giving your power away. Be more concerned with being interested than being interesting. Be old enough to appreciate your freedom, and young enough to enjoy it. Finally know who you are. -Kristin Armstrong
No meeting is complete without challenge assignments. They are not required, but they will challenge you to become THAT GIRL. I challenged everyone to take a selfie. In the selfie they need to own who they (however they want to depict that) and posting it on our local chapter page. (It is exclusive and you have to come to a meeting to get invited; just another perk of coming to our meetings!). I also challenged everyone to be confident in who they are. Don’t second guess their options with “I think” or “I could be wrong”, instead own who they are and what they believe.
I added our challenges we do for every meeting because they will help our group grow and inspire as many woman as possible. One is to bring a friend to the next meeting so our group can reach as many women as possible. And the other was to post Inspirational Graffiti whenever possible and share your experience in our group. Inspirational Graffiti is a way anonymously leave uplifting and inspirational messages all over town. I love doing it! It makes me feel like a Secret Santa spreading smiles to those who read my post-its.
After the challenges were handed out and everyone was free to leave a funny thing happened. Our little group was having too much fun to leave. It is awesome feeling to know that everyone was choosing to stay for a little bit and chat instead of running out the door. I cannot wait to see where the next meeting takes us and what challenges we can push inner badasses with.
-Em-
I Am That Girl - St. Joseph, MO Chapter 