Your Life Awaits

Born into the Kennedy dynasty, Maria Shriver has spent her life living up to her famous family's legacy. She's the niece of President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert and Teddy Kennedy. Her parents, Eunice and Sargent Shriver, founded the Special Olympics and Peace Corps, respectively.

She was raised around politics, but Maria says she had a different passion—journalism. After college, she carved out a successful career for herself and rose to the top at NBC News. In 1986, Maria married movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, and over the past two decades, they've raised four children together.

Maria says her life was going according to plan until her husband was elected governor of California. Almost overnight, she lost her job and became first lady. Her trademark smile never wavered, but when the cameras turned off, Maria says she felt lost.

In October 2007, Maria confessed her true feelings to thousands of women at California's annual Women's Conference. "As long as I was trying to anticipate what you wanted from me, as long as I was trying to fulfill other people's expectations, I was in a losing game, a game that I'd been playing since I was a kid," she said. "That's what I want to focus on this morning … letting go of other people's expectations of you so you can own your own life, write your own story and live your own legacy."