Oct 9, 2007 (Newsweek)

Women in Leadership: Arianna Huffington

More and more I’m trying to find out what is it that allows us to recharge. That can allow us to find a center in our life. Even while we are having easy relationship with power and making that relationship more and more easy. FOr me it is to start with personal then move to the professional and finally move to the political. Political I don’t mean, parties and politics but political interms of our contribution to change in the world however small or big.

Starting wth personal I have found the most draining thing in my life; is not what I do but what my mind does with what I do. As the French writer Montague said, there were many terrible things in my life but most of them never happened. It’s the way we agonize about things before they happen or after they happen. When bad things are happening in our life we can deal with them much better than when we are thinking about them or try to preamp them. The thing that I’ve had to deal all my life is what I call the abnoxious roommate living in my head. The person that is constantly judging me. I dont know if you have one of those but I bet you do. And the guys in the room – you have one too but you are so much better in shutting those abnoxious roommates up than we are.

You can just go and watch the football game and tell the abnoxious roommate to get lost. We have a much harder time doing that because we so need to be approved by everybody including the abnoxious roommate. So from the moment we get up and look in the mirror we start..ahhm..another wrinkle ..interesting.. then we go and put on a pair of jeans ahh..what happened..did you throw these in the dryer!
I don’t know about yours but my abnoxious roomate is incredibly snarky.

So dealing with my abnoxious roomate has been a life long journey. I have to tell you that I am achieving some success. Now much more dominant for me is another problem which is the issue of guilt. Those of you who are mothers I am sure can identify with that. Because I really believe that they take the baby out and they put the guilt in.

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ever since
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
It’s been too hard living but I’m afraid to die
Cause I don’t know what’s up there beyond the sky
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown
somebody keep telling me don’t hang around
It’s been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees
Ohhhhhhhhh…..

There been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come,
oh yes it will