The United Nations marked March 8th as the day that women would get the recognition that they have earned and deserve every single day. Women have long been the winds that fanned the fires of change, whether they were protesting working conditions, the war or working toward civil and social justice. If you want to know how to celebrate, implement the suggestions below.
Send Positive Messages
Sending positive messages on social media is way of supporting women, especially those that may be facing adversity as they strive to make changes in their lives and communities. Send an email to a company to honor a woman that has been helpful or kind to you in some way. Nominate local business women for honors, rewards and recognition. Compliment a woman on a job well done.
Celebrate and Honor the Women that You Know and Love
There are some holidays and celebrations that seem rather abstract and distant but everyone has a woman that they know and love. Start your International Women’s Day celebrations off at home and celebrate the women that you see every day.
Tell your wife, mother, sister and other women that you respect and admire them and how grateful you are to know them and to have them in your life. Honor your coworkers, whether that means hosting a luncheon or giving them a day or even a few hours off (with pay). This is a day that you can make things right by ensuring that everyone is paid fairly and equally.
Lessons from the Past
This is the perfect day to learn the history of important women from the past. Learn and share a new fact about women. Research women in your own family; see if you have any secret rebellion starters, ground-breakers or movers and shakers that deserve respect.
Give Deeply of Yourself
Donate to local women’s charities whether that means time, money or necessary items. Places like women’s shelters always need toiletries and basic household goods as well as money. If you can give time, it is always needed and appreciated. Spending time with homeless women or women fleeing from domestic abuse may be heart-rending but it can be eye-opening as well.
Another way to give is to become a mentor and advocate for a young girl in your community. You could agree to work with an at-risk youth in many ways. Mentoring can be as simple as tutoring in a single school subject to something more involved such as helping a girl land a job or apply for college. Inspire someone with your own successes; hopefully she will do the same for a young girl in her community when she is older.
Don’t Forget Your Friends
Make this a day for getting together with your girlfriends and sharing the things that make you all happy. Go to see a movie together. Have a dinner at a nice restaurant. Share a bottle of wine and dedicate toasts to the women that you honor on this and every day.
Make International Women’s Day a celebration but don’t limit it to a single day. Remember to honor women, all women, every day.
