Be the person who holds the door open, even if you have to stand there too long, and no one nods in acknowledgment. Be satisfied with the fact that you’ve extended a small gesture of helpfulness to strangers.
Category Archives: Being a Woman
#242 Plan your first pregnancy.
It’s simple to avoid an unplanned pregnancy: You use birth control or you don’t have sex. If you feel uncomfortable talking to your partner about birth control, then you simply aren’t ready to have a sexual relationship yet. That’s okay; there is plenty of time for that later.
#233 You are more than a footnote in someone else’s story.
Don’t be “the other woman.” She’s always a quick side note in the great saga of another couple’s love. Cast yourself as the lead in your own life, please.
#218 You can’t base the big decisions in your life on what you think will make other people happy.
It never works anyway.
#212 Remember that most fairytales were written by men.
Some of the greatest writers of children’s fables were male: The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, even Walt Disney. You are not a tiny princess awaiting rescue by a valiant man, a symbol of frailty and naïveté, or the punch line in a morality tale. The women in those stories were crafted by a different sex at a different time for a different audience; these days you slay the dragon yourself. 
#208 Your sexuality is not a bargaining chip in the negotiation of life.
Don’t try to trade on it; it is something specifically and only yours to explore and enjoy with someone you love. If you treat it as anything more or anything less you’re just gambling away your shot at true intimacy in pursuit of a false sense of self worth.
#207 Coloring your hair is an ongoing commitment.
Think long and hard before you begin dyeing your hair – once you start it’s difficult to go back. A lot of upkeep is required to ensure your roots aren’t showing and the color hasn’t faded; a lot of energy is spent agonizing over the most flattering shade and complimentary tone. One day you may realize that you’ve spent endless hours and countless dollars in the salon chair just trying to recapture the beautiful hair color you were born with.
#205 If you rely on popular culture definitions of love, you will live in a state of constant disappointment.
Forget the love you see in screenplays and on sitcoms; your life is more tangled, more interesting, and frankly, much longer than a movie.