A Woman to Admire

As a woman in my late, late, late 20’s, I’m on the hunt for a good woman to admire.

But how to you pick someone? 

What are the characteristics you look for?

                Successful.

                Poised.

                Educated.

                Confident.

                Eloquent.

It’s easy to think of men to admire: Colin Powell - before he basically became a Democrat, Mark Zuckerberg, John Roberts, Bill Gates.  

It’s easy to think of older women to admire: Madeline Albright, duh!!!  The Queen.  Condoleezza Rice.  Sandra Day O’Connor.  Oprah. 

And it’s VERY easy to think of dead people to admire: George Washington, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Steve Jobs.  Although sometimes I think dead people getting a better name for themselves just because they are dead.  Hello JFK! 

But I’m looking for a woman who isn’t too much out of my age range to look up to.

So who are my options?  Sheryl Sandberg.  Marissa Mayer.

But I’ve very different from these women.  I don’t have a wealthy family that gave me awesome opportunities.  I didn’t go to prestigious schools.  I make less than $100,000 a year.  I’m in a job with no growth opportunities.  And I don’t even have a window anywhere near my desk.  (Desk = cubicle). 

I suppose I could look up to women I actually know.  Women in my family.  Women at work.  My favorite authors. 

I feel like the first criteria a woman must have is that she must have done something amazing!  I’m not sure that I know anyone who has done anything amazing!  But what does ‘amazing’ mean? 

I used to know a guy who admired his mother more than anyone.  His father died suddenly, without life insurance, when he was around 7, and he had three other younger siblings.  Now, this guy admired his mother because she stepped up and raised four children, successfully ran the business the father started, and never complained.  I could never understand why he looked up to her so much.  Isn’t that what any mother would do?  How is she special?  Is she special just because she survived the situation and raised 4 children?

Maybe that’s the thing….this woman did something special for her family and maybe that’s the only thing that matters.

But I want to look up to a woman who did more than raise a family and had a mediocre job.   

Now, in my research,* I got a couple different answers.  From Google, the most frequent names I found were Hillary Clinton, Oprah, and European leaders.  From my friends, I heard answers such as teachers, bosses, parents, pastor’s wife, movie stars, and friends. 

Now, I’m not sure what the answer is.  I’m not sure how to pick someone to admire and I’m not sure that I admire anyone.  I wonder if it’s good to admire someone.  If you look up to someone so much, you might miss out on an awesome opportunity because the person you admire probably didn’t take that same path.  

And, if you admire someone, does that mean that you aspire to follow in their path?  Or does it mean that you pick and choose a few characteristics to mimic?

I don’t have the answer, but I know that I’m on the outlook for a woman to admire.  

Any suggestions????

*My research consisted of Google searches on “most powerful women,” “most admirable women,” and “most successful women.”  I also (unscientifically) polled my friends via text message and IM.