Do you guys remember when girls used to say "most of my friends are guys" or "I don't really get along well with other girls"? Well I do - because I have absolutely been that girl and I cannot roll my eyes any harder at myself.
Thankfully - I've evolved and even more important, the world has evolved and we are in a fierce lady movement.
As I was feeling extra grateful for the women in my life - I started to dig deeper into how I used to be the guy's girl and why I felt so proud of that label.
I grew up a tomboy. An athlete. Naturally, I was always around the boys. I thrived on being well liked by men and identifying as someone they selected to be part of the inner circle. I would poke fun at the women they poked fun at, roll my eyes at the girly girls, and pretended I was nothing like those girls.
Obviously I had all kinds of self esteem issues or I would have recognized that I was being just as awful as I pretended those other girls were. But digging deeper - I think I had ingrained my value in what men thought of me. And that I had to mold myself into what men wanted me to be.
I know what you're thinking and yes, this absolutely carried over into my dating life for a really long time. I aimed to please; covered up my real self in order to be the perfect woman.
Only until I discovered the importance of fierce lady friends did I truly learn to develop myself into the strong confident bad ass that you now see in front of you.
Here's what I know for sure: Women who don't have female friends are not to be trusted.
I am more loving, fierce, and motivated because of the women in my life. I am less judgmental, scared, and people pleasing because of the female influences around me.
Don't get me wrong - my very best pal in the world is a man. And he's the best out there. But there's just something as a friend he cannot provide me as a man. He keeps it real with me, encourages me to be everything I dream of, and he puts up with my psychotic breakdowns, but at the end of the day, I'm a girl. And a girl needs other girls to relate to.
I think of my girl gang as my secret agents. They're able to give me the heads up, the inside scoop, and the life lessons that go along with being female. Chances are one of us has been through it, bought it, tried it - and has the down low for the rest of the squad.
I'm not like other women. I sometimes don't get along with types of women. But I have a lot of female friends and I am thankful that they have taught me it's a damn good thing women are all different and don't all get along. And because of that - I can appreciate and respect women can be and are whatever they want to be - but being one thing to fit one mold - is not it.