I was waiting in line at Starbucks when the woman behind me commented on how much she loved my shirt.

I was at a temporary loss for words.

What a wonderful thing to say! Her words made me feel special. I couldn’t stop smiling.

Later, as I thought back on that moment, I couldn’t help but wonder why this doesn’t happen more often. Why isn’t this the norm? You see something you like and you compliment the person who’s rocking it. What is it about our inability to honestly lift another woman up?

Even though it’s hard to acknowledge, we’ve had years of practice comparing ourselves to each other, often harshly. Even though we can all clean up and look amazing, we deflate when we think some other woman in the room has a better figure, hairstyle, dress, seat or date.

Then to shake the pain of our observation, we look for a woman present who may weigh more, have an unflattering shade of lipstick on or any other perceived fault that will boost our declining mood. Why do we do this? Can’t we all be the belles of the ball?

Midlife is a time when we should be celebrating ourselves and each other. Heaven knows, we’ve been through hell and high water to reach this point. The knowledge that we currently have came with a bit of wear and tear. This reality should join us in a community of diva women on a mission. A mission to live the next stage of our lives with gusto. This is in the cards for all of us.

Let’s face it, we all want to wake up every day and smile with anticipation. We all want to feel a sense of purpose and direction. When we recognize a Midlife Master (they are hard to miss), let them know that you see it. She deserves the acknowledgement and so do you.

Here’s my challenge; tell another woman that they look absolutely amazing or that the dress they have on was totally made just for them. Do so without any agenda besides giving an honest compliment. It will make you feel so good that you’ll do it again and again.

The woman who is complimented will feel so good that she will also start to do the same again and again. Before we know it we will have a society of midlife women strutting with their heads high, basking in their awesomeness.

Oh, how I love the sound of that!

~

Author: Maria Allyn

Image: Andreas Bloch

Editor: Travis May