Finding your voice, claiming your power.

Gates talks about learning to be herself and find her voice in order to claim her power while working at Microsoft. Have you done this in your own life? What were the challenges? What were the rewards?

Immediately I am reminded of Marianne Williamson's Poem "Our Greatest Fear?

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?..."

I have moments in my life when I realized my own power and was amazed!

The challenges are you can become disconnected from those you care about. The reward is that you are empowered and become your authentic self and the person you want to be.

I graduated from college, married, taught, stopped teaching when when our children were born, and then went back to work outside the home when our sons were 10 and 15. This was the life I chose and I loved being home. Fortunately I was able to return to work when I was ready. It was in a job I loved. I changed and started to see my self as more competent. I started to develop plans and to find people to carry them out. And I got paid! A power shift began with my husband and we became equal partners.

I o not think I found my power until I was retired. I always just went along with whatever was going on. I stayed at the same job because it was easiest. I even let someone there run all over me. Finally, when I was let go, I realized what I had been doing all those years. I really have made the most of my retirement years. I am happy for this