When I say we need to empower our daughters

I don’t mean toughening them up to become who they’re not.

I don’t mean making them hard and closed off, constantly thinking everyone’s out to get them.

I don’t mean they should become cruel and fight back with the same hurtful words thrown their way.

Nope.

When I say we need to empower our daughters

I mean, we need to make them unafraid.

Unafraid to be themselves despite what everyone else around them thinks.

Unafraid to get a little messy. To put their hands in the mud and get them covered in dirt. To march out in their clean shoes and make squishy noises with each jump in the soil. And offering no apologies for sweat and dirty knees over having fun.

Unafraid to be imperfect. To try new things without being afraid of failures and struggles. To be okay with being a “work in progress.”

Unafraid to take ownership of the space they take up in this world and the dreams they have to make it better.

Unafraid to ask for help or put their mental health first.

Unafraid to prefer real as beautiful. To be proud of stretch marks, to resist self-deprecating remarks, to know their self-worth.

Unafraid to go against diet culture. To know how strong and capable their bodies are.

Unafraid to be kind in a world where it’s easier to be mean.

Unafraid to have real conversations about the world around them. The kind of powerful conversations that can light the fire that drives them throughout life.

And then we can sit back and watch them become the strong women they were always meant to become,

all because they were unafraid.

This post originally appeared on the author's Facebook. Her book "Living FULL: Winning My Battle with Eating Disorder" is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2O4mJId. And my Children’s Book 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺: 𝘈𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘰 is 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞!: https://amzn.to/317TvVc