04 April 2010

The WomEn in My Life


I feel compelled (not too certain why...) to talk about the enormous influence having sisters (and most particularly MY sisters) has been in my life.
A wise person once told me: "There definitely is a difference in guys who grew up with sisters and a guy who didn't. The one with sisters seems to know how to treat girls and react to the things they do much better than the other." Though I don't really have an alternate life to compare this to, it seems to make sense to me that this would be the case. I am definitely grateful for the sisters that I have.
Yes, it's true that girls are hard to understand in many instances. But, growing up, I recognized that a party wasn't a party until the girls got there. Not sure why that is, but it always seemed to be the case. With this truth in mind, I'm grateful that I had a mother and sisters who helped me understand what the best way to treat girls was. It's a word called: Chivalry.
Dictionary.com defines chivalry as:
1. the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.
2. the rules and customs of medieval knighthood.
3. the medieval system or institution of knighthood.
4. a group of knights.
5. gallant warriors or gentlemen: fair ladies and noble chivalry.
6. Archaic. a chivalrous act; gallant deed.

I think in our world today you don't have to be a knight to be chivalrous, but it seems like chivalry sometimes is as uncommon as knights are! This is an unfortunate truth considering how important it is to show proper respect to women.
I know that in many instances, I fall short of the standard chivalry sets, but I will be eternally grateful for the womEn in my life who have taught me what I know of one of the greatest principles for happiness in this life! Thank you Mom and Sisters! I love you! And that's the Bright-Side of Life :D

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I had a lecture in a class once about chivalry and its changing definitions over the years--how it has evolved from a code of behavior for knights to how people view it today. It was really interesting. I'll have to tell you about it sometime. But not now, because that would be too long for a comment. I'm glad you love your mom and sisters though. It's nice to feel respected by men. :)