"To be womanly always; to be discouraged never"

A couple of nights ago I attended an executive board meeting for the Philadelphia Area Alumnae Chi Omega chapter.  As always it is great to see some of the new sisters that I have met as an officer on the e-board, and this time I really enjoyed our meeting as for an icebreaker we each picked our favorite part of the Chi Omega Symphony and explained why it is our favorite part.  I guess before I tell you my FAVORITE part of the symphony, I should let you read the symphony because it truly is beautiful.

The Chi Omega Symphony

To live constantly above snobbery of word or deed; to place scholarship before social obligations and character before appearances; to be in the best sense, democratic rather than "exclusive", and lovable rather than "popular"; to work earnestly, to speak kindly, to act sincerely, to choose thoughtfully that course which occasion and conscience demand; to be womanly always; to be discouraged never; in a word to be loyal under any and all circumstances to my Fraternity and her highest teachings and to have her welfare ever at heart that she may be a symphony of high purpose and helpfulness in which there is no discordant note.

- Ethel Switzer Howard Xi, 1904 

As the title of my post suggests... my favorite line is probably "To be womanly always; to be discouraged never."  This is something that I personally struggle with at times as when things do not go as I have planned I do tend to get a little bit discouraged and feel like nothing is going to go my way.  That is when I have to take the time to think back to the symphony and to realize that being discouraged isn't going to get me anywhere and that I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about my life.  It also reminds us that as sisters of Chi Omega we should be womanly and do things with class and poise instead of freaking out and mishandling things.  It makes me remember that I should always take a step back and look at things before I lash out or maybe say or do something that I will later regret.  This line of the symphony definitely reminds me of a lot and is something I really do try to keep in mind in my every day life.

As much as I do try to keep the symphony in the back of my mind when going about my daily life, in all honesty I have been feeling a bit discouraged lately and haven't been doing the best job of keeping it in mind. All it took to help get me back on the right track was to be at this e-board meeting and to listen to my sisters who I met through the alum chapter talk about how the symphony has helped them through various stages in their lives and about what it means to them.  It made me think about how if I go back to the basics of the symphony and apply it to my life that I can do anything with my life.

Speaking of, you all should check out my Chi Omega sister Danielle's blog The November Project, for some more inspiration and ideas to make your November Extraordinary!  Pats to Danielle and her friend Holly for coming up with such an amazing idea!  Looking forward to following their Extraordinary month and to trying to make my November Extraordinary as well!

PS, Special thanks to Harper and Danielle for coming up with the Symphony Ice breaker!