The 364-Day Challenge

I’m totally on board with the celebration of women, being a woman myself I bask in the public appreciation of that one day, Women’s Day. I also take the time to get inspired by the accomplishments of others who have broken through barriers and attitudes to achieve something positive for themselves and society as a whole.

On a micro level, it seems there’s always a personal price, nothing comes for free, we should be mindful of that and acknowledge it on a daily basis. Women have many priorities, families, careers, friends etc that we juggle but somehow we invariable end up stacking ourselves towards the bottom of the pile, this taken from my own personal experience and also talking to others.  I’ve gone through many periods when its non-stop dealing with responsibilities and commitments and I’ve consciously blocked my emotions from rebelling.  When it got to be too much, my temporary boost was my go-to line  “it is what it is, just get on with it”, it made me feel like a trooper.  Eventually, it all surfaced on my persona, the way I looked and felt, tired, bored and dull. It was a downhill spiral that reflected on my self-confidence and my joie de vivre, not to mention the change in vibe that I exuded to others.
 
My light bulb moment was when I realized my lack of enthusiasm correlated directly to my energy level, the most mundane tasks seemed like a burden both mentally and physically. That’s when I decided I needed to focus on getting back to the me that I enjoyed being, I needed to spend time on myself. I started by scheduling at least half an hour a day to self-connect or do something that gave me a high. I’m vain enough to admit my newfound sense of anticipation started from getting back on track with my physical appearance, going back to my skincare regime which had become a quick dash, skipping half the steps and half the products that I normally use. Now it's like, wow,  I can afford the 20 minutes for masking while meditating (as opposed to trying to send emails while simultaneously wiping drips of serum off the keyboard)  or just relaxing in the tub! Admittedly hitting the gym took a bit more psychological preparation but the energy, focus and self-confidence that comes with the discipline are unparalleled.
 
To all you women out there let's take up the challenge of celebrating yourselves every day while creating our own stories in a more dynamic way and on Women’s Day let the rest of the world celebrate us. It may mean the significance of that one day loses a bit of its shine but maybe we should look at that as preparation for the time that Women’s Day won’t be a thing anymore because we’ll have achieved gender equality. Until then I take my new go-to line from Snoop dog,  “I want to thank me for believing in me. I want to thank me for doing all this hard work, I wanna thank me for never quitting”

Kadambari Lakhani

Ex Beauty Editor, ELLE Magazine, Beauty Brand Consultant, Health and Wellness Enthusiast