Strong Black Woman: Fact or Fiction?

It’s been a while since the Circle got together and pondered a question. Since I had the opportunity to poll 5 other dynamic black women, I figured I’d tackle this loaded question: what does the phrase ‘strong black woman’ mean to you?

Everyone has their own opinion and I’m glad we don’t all agree on this topic.

I think its crucial to our goals to really think about the value and resources we add to other people’s lives, and if that same value is being given back to us. If others aren’t willing to give us their best effort, why are we doing so? Why are we putting our goals, our finances, energy and even our health on the back burner in order to further someone else’s objectives?

How does being a ‘strong black woman’ tie in to all this??

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Maximize Your Return On Investment

One of my personal mantras is “Put Yourself First”. I came to this thought by observing that a person can give time, effort, affection and support to others but not always receive the time, effort, affection and support they need themselves. So I was nodding my head when my friend posted on her Facebook status yesterday,”What percentage of the LOVE that we GIVE AWAY is really EARNED? No more handouts, NO EXCEPTIONS! From this day forward ANYONE who gets MY LOVE will be DESERVING AND RECIPROCATE IT….(and pls spare me with the “love everyone” foolishness, thats NOT realistic!).” It also got me to thinking: its definitely important to put yourself first and invest in yourself - because you are your greatest asset. But how do you determine how much to invest in others?

Your Investment In Human Assets

From Wikipedia:

“Investment is the commitment of money or capital to purchase financial instruments or other assets in order to gain profitable returns in form of interest, income, or appreciation of the value of the instrument.”

Your family, friends, coworkers and associates are the human instruments that you invest in. Do you expect to get profitable returns from your efforts? Or is your philosophy that you love and do for others unselfishly and don’t expect to get anything in return? I’m not trying to be funny, but if the latter is your answer, how is that working out for you?

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