A New Year’s Resolution to Empower the Girls We Love
Most of us realize that storytelling has helped shape our lives. We have found encouragement and inspiration listening to stories told to us by our parents, relatives, friends, teachers, coaches, classmates, colleagues and sometimes even strangers. Listening to these stories may have reminded us that we were neither alone in some of our experiences and aspirations, nor in our fears and self-doubts. Stories have often sparked new ideas in our lives, helped us see new possibilities or find potential solutions to problems we faced.
We recognize that storytelling has the potential to inspire and encourage us, but most of us find it hard see the power of our own stories in encouraging others on their path to empowerment. If you are reading this blog post, you are obviously committed to the Girls on the Run vision of “a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.” Girls on the Run participants, parents, guardians, coaches, teachers, council members and supporters share a commitment to encouraging girls to recognize their unique strengths, talents and limitless potential. There are so many ways by which we can individually and collectively inspire girls and, at SayItForward.org, we believe that storytelling is one of the most powerful ways we can cheer girls on to a more confident and empowered future.
SayItForward.org was founded on the belief that every woman and every girl has an inspiring story to share — a story of overcoming fear, self-limiting beliefs or anything that she believes once kept her from achieving her fullest potential. We believe that storytelling can advance one’s own sense of empowerment and support the empowerment of others — plus, telling stories can be can be fun!
We love our storytelling collaboration with Girls on the Run and are grateful to the courageous girls and women who have shared their experiences and accomplishments through this partnership. We are inspired by the stories of girls and women who have chosen to…
… BELIEVE in themselves
… DREAM big and PURSUE their dreams
… OVERCOME their fears
… CELEBRATE their personal triumphs
… TRY something new (and try again when things did not turn out as they had hoped)
We hope everyone in the Girls on the Run community recognizes the value of your story, and we encourage you to begin the New Year by sharing one of your stories to inspire the girls you love. We recognize that some experiences are intensely personal, so you can choose to share yours anonymously if you wish. We have created a safe, judgment-free space, so no one can comment on your story — no ratings, no criticisms, no evaluation. We invite you to share your story here and experience the power of storytelling.
Here’s to a terrifically empowered 2021 for all!