HOW TO BE A MODERN GODDESS by Dr. Alex Benzer via The Huffington Post
One question arises whenever I pronounce the distinctly un-pithy title of my book for women - 'The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Embracing Your Inner Goddess and Finding the Fulfillment You Deserve': "What qualifies you to write this book?" Well, nothing really. See, I actually don't want you to just listen to me and accept everything I say the whole point of the exercise is to figure out stuff for yourself. I present ideas for you to test. If the principles work for you, use them. If not, toss them and use something else. This is the 'be your own damn guru' principle. Moreover, you may have noticed that I'm a guy. I'm generally pleased with that situation, intermittent requests to die for my country notwithstanding. However, it poses handicaps when attempting to gain deep insight into the feminine psyche. That's why I borrow the brains of remarkable women like Marianne Williamson to aid me in the task. She wrote this great book called 'A Woman's Worth' that everybody should read, guys included. I've also caught glimpses of the goddess and know what she looks like. The Taoist principle at work here says that you can't see a mountain if you're standing on it. You, the goddess, are standing upon the mountain of goddesshood. I, the pilgrim, am looking at you awestruck from the foothills. This means that often I can see and appreciate you better than you can yourself. Now I know what you're thinking: "Who, me, goddess? I am not pretty enough - it's the pretty ones who have that kind of power." Or, if you're pretty: "Well, I'm pretty, but there's always someone younger, prettier, with smoother skin and a nicer butt." Or: I am not smart enough. Or: I'm
too smart. I'm too young and inexperienced. I'm too old. All the internal chatter is self-contradictory nonsense anyway, so let's just stop it all right now. That brings us to the first Goddess Principle: 1. The Goddess exists now and only now. Get rid of all the excuses. You are what you've been waiting for. Claim the power and be it. Eastern traditions like Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism hold that we are all incarnations of the divine. So the goddess already lives within you it's just a matter of acknowledging that presence and revealing it. I love this line from 'A Woman's Worth': 'That's all that separates the queens from the slavegirls: a shift in consciousness from denial to acceptance of personal power.' Now I don't know how you define 'goddess' for yourself. Maybe it means being the embodiment of compassion, grace, beauty, sensuality, kindness, wisdom, or joy. However you define the term, there is no physical barrier keeping you from expressing those qualities right now - like 7-11, goddess-hood is available to you 24/7. You merely have to choose to express it. That is the second principle: 2. The goddess is service. Service is at once the exercise of her power and the flourishing of it. The more of it you do, the more you grow into your goddess power. The power of the goddess is the power to elevate those around her -- with something as simple as a word of encouragement, a warm hand on the shoulder, or a look of appreciation. That kind of service is its own reward. When I think of examples of the goddess, names like Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale and Oprah Winfrey come to mind. Nobody says they're perfect, but they are perfect in giving their particular gift fully. That motivates the third principle: -70-
