Recently, I told a couple of strong women whom I have known since they were born that 
I would do a blog post on strong women in our society. There has been quite a bit of press coverage of strong women lately, whether in politics or business or life in general. Later, in a moment of self-doubt, I got to thinking to myself, “What the heck do I know about strong women.” My answer to was to think of it more about a strong person, gender identity aside, and to try to identify the characteristics that makes them “strong”.
The more I thought about it the more I settled on one characteristic above all others that makes a person – man or woman – a strong person. That characteristic is self-assurance. This is not to be confused with conceit or being self-centered. Strong women have a very
clear understanding and acceptance of who they are and what they want in life. Strong women do not need a man to validate them. They are ready and looking for an equal partner, not just someone to assume the role of protector and provider. They have left the nest and their parents and aren’t looking for a man to come into their life and provide a substitute father figure.
In a prior life, when I was in the big, corporate world, I took a course that was aptly titled “I’m OK, You’re OK”. While the course focused upon how to identify and deal with 
different types of people, one of the basic premises was that you are OK being you; that you aren’t trying to be someone else. Strong people and strong women are OK being themselves. They like who they are and what they are doing in life. They might invite you to share that life with them, but they are not looking to replace it or change it, just to suit you. They may be willing to make some accommodations in order to share life with you; but you shouldn’t expect subservience or too much deference to your point of view.
There is a tendency to call strong people “headstrong”; and, indeed, they can seem that way at times, even to the point of becoming argumentative. Unanswered in the complaint that they are unwilling to budge from their position on something is the question of how willing you were to move your thinking in their direction. Sometimes 
you can find compromise and sometimes you just have to agree to disagree; and, that’s OK. Life does not have to be a “winner-loser” game. In fact it is best when lived as a win-win game.
I’ve posted here before about the importance of developing the bond of friendship with the one that you may be sharing your life with. The jewelry companies have picked up on that aspect of a successful partnership with their two stone rings – one stone for the one you love and one for your best friend. That is the relationship to strive for with a strong partner.
So, guys; when you meet a strong woman, you should not be frightened nor should you see it as a challenge to try to dominate her. Rather, see it as an opportunity, perhaps to 
form a relationship with someone who can hold their own as your best friend in life’s journey. It can be an amazing trip when you have a partner alongside you who can give as much as he/she takes in the relationship. If you just want arm candy, you can find that, too; just don’t expect too much from someone who sees you as her sugar daddy. You can drag that cute, little dependent being along with you, like a puppy on a lease; or, you can find a strong woman who will pull her load in life as an equal partner – you chose.
As for me; I’ve got to go now; my partner and I have plans for the day.
Posted by Norm Werner 
that I’ve found in my life to give yourself to God is to prayerfully say to Him…Not my will but thy will be done.
button for life. We need time to think and reflect, to evaluate things and, possibly, to reimagine our role and reactions to what is happening. How many times we think back to situations and from that new point of view, say to ourselves, “if only I had thought of this back then.” Perhaps you would have thought of that back then, if you had hit the pause button.
happen to us often elicit equally hurtful reactions from us and usually just end up compounding the problem. Problems that are so big that they overwhelm us too often cause responses that are overly ambitious and not well thought out. Pausing to see how to break the problem down into a series of smaller and simpler responses can lead to a much better chance of success.
slide into depression because you see no way out. You may wish to say a little prayer, asking for God’s help with the decisions that you have to make or perhaps you would finbd comfort in the little prayer that I use and have written about here many times – “Not my will, but thy will be done.” 
labeled as an eccentric misfit in school. Look at what happened to her when she decided to keep being herself, instead of trying to conform to someone else’s idea of what was cool or proper.
accepted and to be considered cool. That never works. Instead we just end up looking pathetic in the eyes of those people that we are trying so hard to emulate and impress.
– “God help me be the best me that I can be today. Help me do the right things and focus my energy on doing better each day.” Then you could end the day by taking some time to reflect on your day and with another prayer, “Please God, help me see and understand the things that I could have done better this day; so that I can be a better me tomorrow.”
of winter to come; too remember roses in December; however, memory also serves to keep alive those who are no longer with us. As Thomas Campbell put it- “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
In our daily lives there are probably lots of people who do things for us that normally go unnoticed and unappreciated. There’s the bus driver who helps get us to work or maybe the guard at the guard shack who there to help insure our safety. Maybe it’s the day-care worker who takes care of our children while we work or the lunch room worker or the waitress who is there to server our noon-time meal. It may be the paper delivery person who has to get up at 4 AM in the morning each day to go get the papers and deliver their routes. Perhaps it one of the many retail people that we may encounter during the day.
these people blend into the background and become just a part of the environment to us. We only recognize them when something doesn’t go as we wish and we complain about it and them. We may call their managers in anger over some perceived slight in the service; but, how many call just to tell that manager what great service they gave us?
Sometimes this tendency to ignore and not appreciate them extends to our life partners, especially to the career-oriented men in the relationship. Call it complacency or just laziness, we sometimes become so self-centered that take for granted all that a spouse does for us to make our life better. The cooking and cleaning and housekeeping and laundry and child care all seem to fade into the background and become unappreciated expectations, rather than something that could be and should be acknowledged and appreciated. It takes only a moment of your time to give your partner a hug and tell them how much you appreciate the meal that they just served, even though you may have no real appreciation of how much time and effort went into the making that meal.
encounter to whom you can show appreciation. It should start at home, but there are countless other opportunities throughout the day to show appreciation to others and make their day better because of it. You may be thinking, “what difference can it make?”; however remember that the great majority of people just don’t make the effort. You can be the one bright moment in that person’s life today and that’s a great opportunity that will make you feel better, too.
NormsMilfordBlog 