Blogs & Insights From Mama Gold
Second Chances
So many people ask me, “Why don't you retire? Why are you still working? What are you trying to prove? You don't need to prove anything anymore.” And lately, I've had to question myself: Why do I work?
Why do I work?
I work because I'm living a second chance, I believe. A second chance at being a better wife, a better mother, a better leader.
Where do you go to?
Some people, when challenged or triggered, automatically fight back. It's all they knew. It's all they could do to survive back then. It's only when you unpack the anger that you get to the root of the pain. Sometimes fighting back saved our lives.
Taming The Barking Dog
Sometimes, when things are rough, it's easy to default to our old patterns of survival and coping. But when we find a new way forward, even in the depths of our valleys, even in the depths of our despair, we are saying, "I am going to live patterns that protect me, not patterns that might hold short-term comfort but that hold the seed of long-term annihilation."
My Experiment With Visibility
After this Easter period of deep reflection, I have chosen to retreat into a period of thought leadership and writing, focusing on my mental health journey. Being active and in quiet reflection creates a gentle way forward. I am trying to create a road map of learning as I navigate this complex life in my 60s. The visibility this past year for me has been excruciating – being too exposed.
A Different Kind Of War
Right now, the world can feel like an incredibly overwhelming place to be. We've never had world orders disrupted in quite the way we see now. We've never had the models of leadership we are seeing now. So startlingly different to the decades of somewhat more predictable destinies before.
It leaves me with just some quiet questions. No marketing, no funnels, no frenetic planning, no destinations.
Just the journey of today.
The Psychology of Winning
Last week, when Shereen Hunter spoke so deeply and so honestly about the psychology of winning, it really resonated with me. It wasn't just what she said, it was the raw honesty and the heart-felt vulnerability with which she told her story.
As a previous Woman of Stature nominee, she did not win an award the night of that Gala event that year.
She was honest about it. She had to navigate some disappointment, but her true win came in a very different and profound way.
