This is the kind of world I want my daughter to grow up in

Today is International Day of the Girl, a day that, to be honest, I had never heard of before. 

According to the United Nation's website, "the day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights."

I learned about this special day today, during my daily ritual at home, when I help my daughter with her homework. And it caused me to reflect on her future.

My daughter is probably like a lot of girls her age. She's intensely interested in making friends and fitting in at school. She loves to snap photos and videos of herself and her friends and add fun filters to them.

She enjoys listening to music. She likes to lip sync songs using an app. She spends too much time watching slime videos on Instagram and making multicolored slime at home. She likes to sleep in on the weekend. 

And she's got a lot of budding talents: She's a strong writer with a good grasp of language and an ability to express herself clearly and vividly; she has a beautiful singing voice; and she's getting better and better at dribbling and shooting a basketball.

As I watch her grow up, I wonder about the world she is entering. And I worry a lot.  Because the world these days--especially with the spate of shocking incidents of abuse that has been making the rounds in the news lately--doesn't seem as safe or sane as any of us would like it to be. 

So what kind of world do I want my daughter to grow up in? 

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she is recognized and respected for who she is, for what she has accomplished, and for her future potential. 

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she can pursue her passions and dream big dreams without discouragement from critics and naysayers. 

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she is paid fairly for the work she does and the contributions she makes to whatever profession she pursues. 

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she takes pride in her richly diverse cultural and religious heritage, and feels confident about expressing it in whatever form inspires her most. 

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she knows how to protect and defend herself from threats to her physical, emotional, and mental safety and integrity. 

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she feels empowered to speak out on the issues that she cares about most. 

I want my daughter to have confidence in herself, to love and accept who she is, and to have the resilience to deflect unwarranted criticism or insults. 

Sometime in the future, she'll be on her own--hard as it is for me or my wife to imagine or accept. But before that day comes, I'll do whatever I can to help her prepare for her future, while treasuring every single moment of the present. 

What kind of world do you want your daughter to grow up in? Please share your thoughts in the comments. 

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