a wise girl:

"A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left."

-Marilyn Monroe

Umm, are you kidding me? I'm beyond confused about why every girl throws this around as their ultimate lifetime motto. I get that she was beautiful and iconic and talented, but that statement is so insecure and tragic to me, and is full of qualities that I hope I never embody. It goes against the very nature of who a woman was created to be.

1. Marilyn Monroe could not be worse a role model. Drugs, explicit and overly publicized sexual relationships and a tragically sad and untimely death are what come up when you search her name on the internet. No thanks, I'll stick with Mother Theresa as someone to look up to.

2.A wise girl does love. She loves until it hurts. She loves until her love is returned. She loves even if its never returned. A wise girls life is marked by her relentless, unconditional love. She isn't afraid of pain or heartbreak, but instead she takes risks at the opportunity of great love.

3. A wise girl doesn't dismiss someones opinions before she even starts to hear what they have to say. That's ignorant. A wise girl can acutely decipher truth in a conversation based off her own personal beliefs, but she doesn't just listen to hear someone talk. She listens to learn and to gain understanding.

4. A wise girl stays until her heart says it's really time to go. A wise girl isn't so insecure that she drops her life because she fears someone dropping her first. A wise girl can stand on her own even if that happens. A wise girl is independent and strong and doesn't run when life gets hard.

So no, Marilyn, you got it so backwards:

A wise girl loves until she can't possibly love anymore, listens and speaks the truth eloquently and stays until it's actually time to go, and does not leave in a hasty or dramatic fashion. A wise girl is strong and beautiful and can stand on her own. She doesn't need a mans opinion to define her and she doesn't need to be explicit to get noticed. She's beautiful and courageous and will live a life that leaves a story that's worth telling. She's conscious of her actions and speaks kindness, life and joy into those she knows. She takes risks, picks herself back up when she fails and loves with the greatest of passions.

That is a wise girl.