On April 21, 2020, it is a celebration of Kartini Day, the birthday of an Indonesian hero of women empowerment – Raden Ajeng Kartini.
Formerly in Indonesia, a lot of people still believe that education was required only for men. They did not really care if women are not educated, as long as women were capable of being a wife and a mother at the end of the day. Kartini fought over equality between men and women in Indonesia. She strongly disagreed with a hereditary culture in which a woman could only play the passive role of being the supporter, not the one on the front line actively expressing their thoughts and being heard. In addition, she wanted to prove that women could replace the role of men and for that Kartini became one of the most important figures of women emancipation in Indonesia until today.
Fighting for gender equality does not mean demanding women to be the same as men, but supporting women and men to get the opportunity to be in equal positions. The commemoration of Kartini Day is a great reminder of it. Keep the women’s spirits alive to continue empowering each other.
In order to empower others, we must empower ourselves in advance. We all admire those strong, independent, powerful women we see on TV or maybe also in our daily lives. But only certain women can do that right? No. Empowerment is something every woman should experience. Here are 3 tips we can give you to help you start empowering yourself.
1. STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS If you took the strengths of others and compared them to your weaknesses, how do you think you’d size up? Do you think that would make you feel good? No. It always seems unfair in all aspects whenever we compare ourselves to others. In addition, we now live in the digital era where we can easily compare ourselves with other people not only in real lives but also through social media. The moment you realize that you are comparing yourself to others, you have to decide and stop such defective thoughts. Instead, choose to focus on your strengths, what is unique about you, what you can offer, and continue to appreciate what we have already accomplished. Count your blessings and remember that the only comparison you should make is with who you were yesterday.
2. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
Know that leaving choices and decisions to others may lead to disempowerment and taking responsibility is incredibly empowering. It automatically encourages solution-based thinking that can lead to a majority of creative ideas to help resolve our problems more effectively. In fact, there are many opportunities throughout the day for you to take responsibility for.
- Take responsibility for your thought/mind The thoughts that enter our consciousness over a period of time will have a determinative effect on our qualities and characters. In other words, what we think about will largely determine the kind of people we become. If this is true (and, as far as we know, no one denies it), what we think about is one of the most important things about us.
- Take responsibility for your feeling/emotion
Your feelings come from your thinking. This doesn’t mean that if you tell yourself everything is fine and you have no problems, then you will feel fine and your problems will disappear. This doesn’t mean you’re expected to dismiss your feelings either, nor that you’re not allowed to talk about them. However, if we pay careful attention to our feelings, we will discover that we actually are the one and only person that have control over what we feel. We have a chance to evaluate the underlying message and determine whether that feeling is actually appropriate to the current context or not.
- Take responsibility for your body
What does the body need? To get rest, to get fit, to lose weight, to gain muscle — or whatever your body goals are right now. You can take responsibility for your body and make the decision to stop obsessing about what might have been. Instead of imagining how different life would have turned out if you’d had the body you wanted, you can train and reshape and refocus your physical energy.
- Take Responsibility for your soul Most human beings do not value their soul as they should but are instead incredibly careless. The value of a human soul is incalculable. It cannot be reckoned. When you live in alignment with your soul's purpose the feeling of elation and joy will truly have you wanting more. It simply takes a spiritual growth to truly connect your soul to the divine and creating a fulfilling inner life. We have to begin to self-love and embrace the messages our soul is screaming at us. 3. Do Something. Start small.
Small is where you start, small is when it begins. Small is the seed of something enormous. Getting the most important thing done first thing in your day and setting yourself up for an action-packed day sounds great in theory. But in reality, you will have unmotivated days. Stop wishing, start doing! One of the best things you can do to feel empowered is to take a step or two that brings you closer to your goal. And the next day again. And again. To make it manageable, make a list of all the small things that need to be done so you can accomplish your goal. Every small success will make the next one easier. Remember what Colin Powell said, “a dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”.
"Jangan pernah menyerah jika kamu masih ingin mencoba. Jangan biarkan penyesalan datang karena kamu selangkah lagi untuk menang."- RA Kartini
Every woman can be an empowered woman. It might take work, but it’s worth the effort.
Happy Kartini Day, and teruslah berkarya, Wanita Indonesia!