I've had times in my career when I've felt betrayed or wronged for things that I really had nothing to do with. Times when my confidence waivered and my happiness was challenged, until I realized that no one can have control over my happiness and my self-confidence except me. No person or job is going to have that hold over me.

So many times in my life I've sat back, bit my tongue and taken whatever was dished out to me. Good or bad, I'd never compromise what makes me who I am to pull ahead of someone who has wronged me. I've been burnt before, but I've also flourished from some of the risks taken in trusting. I'd rather give people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes I've been so hot that my head feels like it could explode over things that I have no control over. But the one thing I do have control over is me, and no one else has that control.

With everything in life, there are rewards and consequences. Almost nothing in this world is free. Success has a price, and even failure has a price.

The price one pays for success can sometimes be more than it is for failing. Success often comes as a sacrifice of your time, hard work, pain, sweat, mental health and your private life. Some people even sacrifice their integrity, their families and their loyalty, just to gain success or fame.

So in the long haul of things, do nice girls/guys finish last? I don't think so, not when it comes to things that count.

I'm not saying that all successful people are like that, because I know plenty of people who make it to the top that play by all the rules and are extremely successful and respected because of it. We all reap what we sow. Whether we reap blessings or consequences, we will reap something, sometime. When it comes time for me to lay down at night, I can do so without tossing and turning knowing that I've played by the rules and done all that I could. When I look in the mirror, I know that I haven't sacrificed myself or my character at the price of fame. Instead, I count my blessings knowing that I did it the right way.

Becky Hammon, an all-state basketball player at Rapid City Stevens and an All-American at Colorado State, is in her third year of pro basketball as a member of the WNBA's New York Liberty.