Here in the United States, we’re getting ready to celebrate Independence Day. I had a lot of independence growing up! I’m an only child, so I was a latch-key kid in the 80’s – I was home all by myself during most of my vacation times! But I was also raised by a very strong role model, my mom Kathy. While she and my dad had a great relationship, she herself was really independent.
She was a full-time registered nurse, and she took care of a lot of the things in our house. I remember seeing my mom sitting at the kitchen table with paper bills spread out, all organized with her checkbook, writing out the checks, paying all of the bills on time. So I was flabbergasted – like extremely shocked – when I recently found out that women could not open their own bank accounts by themselves until the 1960s.
They couldn’t even have their own credit card until the 70’s. I was born in 1975, so thinking back to my mom using credit cards or writing those checks, that was because she was married; she had joint accounts with my dad.
I am so grateful that I am a woman of the 21st century, where I get the chance to have my own freedoms, my own independence, and choose where I want that to be.
That I can open my own bank account, that I can do things regardless of if I’m married or have a co-signer. I was really reflecting on what freedom means to me, and for me today, freedom means being able to choose what my career is; where I want to work. To be able to choose where I want to live, to choose how I’m going to wake up each morning and live my life.
What energy am I going to put forth? How am I going to support myself, my family, and other people? What mark am I going to make in the world today? Those are all choices that I have the freedom to make. So as Independence Day is coming closer, I would encourage you to take just a couple of minutes and reflect on first, what are you grateful for?
What freedoms do you have such gratitude that you get to experience? And then secondly, what does freedom mean to you, and how are you going to show up to really capitalize on that freedom? What choices are you going to make today to show that freedom is important to you, and you can make an impact in your own life and in others? I’d love to hear from you, share in the comments below!