Nikkea and I were sitting in her living room on day two of our business brainstorming marathon. I don’t remember what prompted her, but I’ll never forget my response. The tears welled up in my eyes unannounced. “What did you say?” I asked.
“You know… that Dalai Lama quote, ‘The world will be saved by the western woman.’”
I felt my eyes get bigger, my face get flushed, my breath sprinting to catch up with itself as unexplainable emotions gushed forth. “Wait.” I whispered. “I need a minute.”
Nikkea held vigil while I honored… something.
What was happening to me? Where was this coming from? I let the tears flow.
Sometimes you just know something because you know it, and there is nothing to justify or explain. It didn’t take long for me to understand that what had just occurred was that my mind had recognized something my soul had known from before birth. With those words, “The world will be saved by the western woman,” I was given permission and a mandate to own and unify all the formerly seemingly disjointed pieces of my life and step forward into my next expression of purpose.
Suddenly I understood so many things…
Why I had gotten a business degree and worked in corporate America as a stock and bond trader to become an Assistant Vice President at the age of 24. And why the certainty that I was dying a spiritual death at that job prompted an uncharacteristically bold decision to move 3000 miles across the country to start a new life.
Why I flung my career pendulum to its polar opposite to earn a Master’s Degree in Social work and explore a world of disenfranchised populations as a caseworker for migrant farm families and teen Latina girls groping to find their identities between two discordant cultures.
Why I had immersed myself for ten years in a body of work which focused on strengthening our society through cultivating productive and successful relationships between men and women, and why I’d devoured every leadership training opportunity I could get my hands on.
And finally, I knew why I felt most at home working with professional women, despite the fact that the principles I practiced and taught were universal, regardless of age, gender or any other demographic.
I knew.
I am meant to work with professional women. But not just any professional woman. I am meant to work with a very specific kind of professional woman: the professional woman who is caught in what I’ve come to understand at a cellular level – the thing, the opportunity, the moment in a person’s life when they are caught in what I’ve come to call “The Power Paradox.”
For more on The Power Paradox keep checking back here at my blog or sign up for my newsletter in the box on the right to receive tips and updates regarding learning opportunities at Success For the Soul™.
Seek illumination and begin to discover your untapped power.
Take the quiz at www.findyourblindspots.com
Choose YOUR Reality!™
Sonia
When the Dalai Lama said, “The world will be saved by the western woman.” what do you think he meant? Please comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Perhaps, in addition to the musings in the link (http://dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/western-women-can-come-rescue-world), Dalai Lama was musing on the fact that western women are in a unique position to can confront most dangerous perpetrators of cultural, societal and planetary destruction: western men. In particular, American men, those who support and further the patriarchal oligarchy of power and exploitation. Some of us are joining feminism in the cause to heal and transform society and individual lives. We call ourselves “Pro-Feminists” http://www.facebook.com/groups/profeministmen
Thanks for this provocative post!
Thanks Ocean,
I have been very inspired in my travels as I meet men who really see, validate and encourage what women have to contribute. I have recently had some huge epiphanies about the quality of “honor” in a feminine context. I believe that we live in a time where the world needs to us to live as Honored Women. I’ve been attracting women in corporate American as clients more and more over the years. They have sought me out because they had often achieved success according to male definitions of power and fulfillment, but something was missing or broken. In all cases the common denominator from my perspective was that a “dishonoring” was playing out in their lives. They felt dishonored or disrespected at work. They wanted to feel honored by men both professionally and in intimate relationships, but were at a complete loss regarding how to create that. Or, there was a spiritual void within them that yearned to be honored. As the women began to honor themselves first – their needs, their emotions, their spirit, their bodies, their dreams, their vision for our world – and brought their feminine wisdom and power into balance with their masculine power, things started to shift and manifest in their outer world. New opportunities at work began to appear. Relationships with men began to improve – both personally and professionally. They experienced more inner peace and an ability to trust themselves. They became more inspired and courageous to own their purpose and express it in the world. I believe that as we choose to live as honored women – within ourselves first – we become catalysts for honor everywhere. Men who have been lost will be inspired to discover what being a man of honor means. Men and women will honor each other. And as true partners, we can honor our world.
Hi Ocean,
what you say “…can confront most dangerous perpetrators of cultural, societal and planetary destruction: western men.” -> I feel exactly that. And also try to realize a project idea, which adresses exactly these western men. I am in a really small starting level, but comments like yours are pushing me, washing doubts away and show me, that it is the right way, that I am on. So thanks for that!!!
Yes women are leaders, we are not above men, but we are equal to men.
Thank you Dorothy. Well said!
Perhaps he meant that we women in this developed country (North America) has the means and the freedom to do what women in “undeveloped” countries can’t. I absolutely agree with him.
Thank you Kenya. I agree!
As an elder woman who has been on a spiritual path for decades,I would like to think that the Dali Lama meant the power of the Divine Feminine embodied in the western woman. The traits of the Divine Feminine have been sorely tested in our world and sadly missing in much of the patriarchal l society: compassion, kindness, nurturing, reverence for all life on this planet. As our world is transforming we are being called to a transformation of consciousness..for all men and women. Western woman has the unique recognizable position of potential power. That is sacred rather than abusive, Sacred power empowers others through the qualities of the Divine Feminine. As western woman rises up in righteous anger to take her rightful equal position, she also models for all the memory of the heart and soul of the Divine Feminine.
Thank you Lucille. Yes I am passionately committed to shining the vast power of the Divine Feminine in balance and support of the Divine Masculine.