So within the past week or so I have dealt with nearly losing my job, placing everything that I have worked so hard for on the line. My confidence, pride, strength, and everything that makes me the woman I am today had all been put on what seemed to be the front line of an Afghanistan war.

Many young women around the world spend most of their childhood, teen, and young adult years trying to find themselves, figure out who they are, and why they were even placed on this earth to begin with. For years I was that shy girl who spoke to no one because I was afraid of being judged for simply being me. My confidence went from being dragged along the pavement as I ran to being placed upon my shoulders as I walked. And, now, I am being told that I have too much CONFIDENCE, too much PRIDE, and too much PERSONALITY for those who work with me. Well, my question is do I give up on being me just for a job, not my career but my job?

Through all this I have learned that in the midst of standing strong beside our pride and what we believe in we have to take a minute and look in the mirror and correct the wrongs in ourselves before we point out the wrongs of others. Only GOD can judge. In which, sometimes I feel like he doesn't even judge us as harsh as we judge ourselves.

"The woman who survives intact and happy must be at once tender and tough. She must have convinced herself, or be in the unending process of convincing herself, that she, her values, and her choices are important. In a time and world where males hold sway and control, the pressure upon women to yield their rights-of-way is tremendous. And it is under those very circumstances that the woman:s toughness must be in evidence." Maya Angelou