Frontline of My Life - Version 2.0

My relationship with myself, my family and friends, my country and my region is a strong, growing relationship at a personal and professional level. I am on the cusp of moving forward in claiming my space as a woman with something big to contribute. Perhaps to contribute to the world!

I reflect a lot on who I am and why I have not moved along faster on my path towards unleashing my leadership contributions to build resiliency in my truth, hard as it oftentimes seems with the fear heaped on by others and self. Just recently I was reminded of what was billed as an African proverb that if a person wants to get somewhere faster, go it alone. If she wants want to go further, go together with others. It was an excellent reminder and a validation that I am not moving along the path as fast as I sometimes think I should be going because I am not going it alone but rather ‘going together.’

This way I know I have a network of support so when the going is rough for me, there are others who can pick up the slack, give much needed encouragement to keep going forward. Of course, this may be the romantic view of what is a really difficult effort to ‘go together’. The challenge of multiple opinions, decisions and different perspectives may sweeten that ‘go it alone’ option. But in the end the team victory is much longer lasting than the individual victory. The benefits of going it together outweigh the challenges.

Nonetheless, even as I realize that there is a difference between ‘going together’ and ‘doing it alone’, there is much that I have to do to advance on my leadership path and in many cases these are things that must be done alone, even while I am ‘going together.’

So what is this leadership path I journey on? Where am I going? Why have I linked arms with others to ‘go further together’? I am with others who share a vision. Our vision is to bring economically vulnerable women, men, girls and boys of African and Indigenous ancestry into a 21st century economy that leads to sustainable and green development through graduate level academic innovation, modern technology and sustainable practices’ research that anticipate development needs for leadership in our communities where lifelong learning allow individuals to proceed at a pace according to their ability and linked in with others.

We are on a mission! Our mission is to provide affordable, accessible higher education opportunities that enable economically disadvantaged lifelong learners to develop knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their professional goals, improve their productivity and provide leadership and service to the development of their communities.

Reflecting now though, I realize that the fear that existed before and during my time of being pushed down in the ditch is still pretty much alive and trying hard to holding me back from climbing out of the ditch fully and completely. I am grabbing hold of that fear right now, though, because I must shake it loose and throw it in the dump heap of negative destructive elements.

My emotions were stripped raw and it took a lot of will power, self and World Pulse affirmation to climb out of the ditch of self-doubt, insecurity, uncertainty and weakened confidence and esteem. In these past several weeks I have held up my emotional mirror constantly and repeatedly in any given day, week and month, forcing myself to see the options and acknowledge gratitude for the resources I have. I can join my resources with others to be into service helping the intelligent, smart-as-a-whip economically disadvantaged people of African and Indigenous ancestry, especially women and girls, achieve academic credentials at the highest level. Lack of quality, accredited affordable higher education training for economically vulnerable people of African and Indigenous ancestry is not outside their reach. I can be a part of that victorious team providing an opportunity to socio-economic empowerment of the individual woman or girl and her immediate family and wider community.

See me running down my path unleashing my leadership contributions to build resiliency through higher education certification training! Abigail