Surviving the Concrete Jungle

All my life I've been most popular for many things, one of them being: I'm a happy bubbly character. Yet I am a single mom; lost both parents and face many unspoken struggles as a Black woman. How do I keep my head held high. The answer in it's under-rated simple form is: Mind over Matter.

To survive the concrete jungle of the city of gold, Johannesburg and the daily modern challenges is to have a mental lock down on HOW you want to feel. I always say to myself and those around me, that I refuse to pay mind to things or people that make no difference in my life - and to the lives of my loved ones. FILTER,,,

More importantly I fight the voices in my head with a daily mantra. I live by the word of an Excerpt from Common Sense, written in 1776 by Thomas Paine:

"I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon … if I can. I seek opportunity … not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me. I want to take the calculated risk, To dream and to build. To fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole; I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence Nor my dignity for a handout I will never cower before any master Nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; To think and act for myself, To enjoy the benefit of my creations And to face the world boldly and say:

This, with God’s help, I have done. All this is what it means to be an Entrepreneur."