Each one of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. - Sheryl Sandberg

The more satisfied a person is with her position, the less likely she is to leave.3 So the irony — and, to me, the tragedy — is that women wind up leaving the workforce precisely because of things they did to stay in the workforce. With the best of intentions, they end up in a job that is less fulfilling and less engaging. When they finally have a child, the choice — for those who have one — is between becoming a stay-at-home mother or returning to a less-than-appealing professional situation.

In order to protest ourselves from being disliked, we question our abilities and downplay our achievements, especially in the presence of others. We put ourselves down before others can.

A psychiatrist friend explained to me that humans are evolutionarily wired for both connection and grief: we naturally have the tools to recover from loss and trauma.