Wicked Success is Inside Every Woman

7

ENDURANCE

Fuel Your Endurance to Energize Your Performance

I will not be vanquished.

ROSE KENNEDY

Growth of any kind cannot occur without enduring some degree of pain and discomfort.

VICKIE L. MILAZZO

Women outlive men by an average of five years, which is surprising given our endless commitments and responsibilities. Among centenarians, people 100 years or older, women outnumber males two to one. That's endurance.

Male fetuses are at greater risk of damage, deformity, premature birth and death than female fetuses. Medical science attributes this increased risk to the male fetus's response to a mother's release of the stress hormone cortisol during pregnancy. Women always say they handle stress better than men, and this statistic may not prove it, but it sure is interesting.

Many women who choose to become mothers endure 14 or more hours of labor. That's 14 hours of pain. And while we might assume that mothers-to-be have no idea what to expect the first time they're picking out tiny pastel onesies, over 70 percent of them go back and do it again.

But endurance is about more than longevity or pain. It's about having the stamina to do what it takes to achieve wicked success, like ...