My biggest struggle as a working woman is balancing my professional and private life. I worked hard to get where I am – still do - and to add to the pressure are calls from friends and family asking why they hardly ever see me anymore, forcing me to make promises I have a hard time keeping. People always ask what exactly keeps me this busy. Well, I start my day at the gym at 5:30am every morning since I can’t be certain what time my work will end –a girl has to look her best. After work, I go home, prepare my dinner, watch a TV show or two, and go to bed. If I’m lucky, I squeeze about 10 minutes for a book before I fall asleep. I used to read a novel in less than 48hrs –but that was in high school. Now five pages are about as far as I go; we are talking about a month to finish the damn thing. I like reading about successful executives who have managed to balance work and home life - most of them being mothers! I am not some kind of supernatural being, in fact let me make it clear right now that I’m losing this war - and I don’t even have a family of my own yet! I just don’t have time for anything else. I do feel bad about not being able to mingle with family or visit my grandmother, however, if anyone asked if I’m happy, I would say yes with no hesitation. I’m healthy; I love my job and have a great circle of family and friends (whether I see them often or not). I simply can’t please everyone. Seeing as I’m doing well, my family should be more understanding. They need to know that I can’t be at every single wedding meeting for every single cousin (and they are a lot) or go visit distant aunts whose names I have to be reminded of. I just can’t.What I CAN do is try to strike a balance between work and family (and by family, I mean immediate family). I know the priorities in life and it’s just a matter of working out a way to balance them – after all, I AM a 21st century woman. I can do this!