The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do

pregnancy, almost suicidal,” she told me. “It was the only
time in my life where I couldn’t see beyond twenty-four
hours.”
Each day, Ginny would wake up, grateful for making it
to another sunrise. And each night, she would cry herself to
sleep, overwhelmed with anxiety. Nearly every person in
her life had abandoned her. She had brought shame to her
family, lost her boyfriend, and compromised her social
status in a country where unwed mothers are treated as
second-class citizens. Even her friends didn’t know what to
do with her. While they were out partying, she was
preparing to be a mother. They couldn’t empathize with her
situation and started excluding her. Still, she knew
something was right about the path she was on.
During the delivery, the nurse kept asking when Ginny
wanted the epidural. At first she declined but eventually
took it because she started feeling sick. At the suggestion of
her aunt, Ginny wanted to have a natural birth, but no one
had ever told her how to do that. So she bore her son the
best that she knew how, while her mother sat in the corner
as she labored. It was hard, much harder than she imagined,
but she got through it and in the end had a beautiful baby
boy. “The birthing process made me realize how important
it is to be supported,” she said, “to have someone believe in
you and protect you—how important it is to keep women
safe.”
That was just the beginning. Though she didn’t know it
at the time, the whole experience, even the pain of