Two familiar phrases for you:
Work-life balance.
You can have it all.
Have you said these to yourself before? Do you believe them to be true?
As a mother who works outside of the home, I look for a healthy blend in my life. I hate the phrase “work-life balance” because it implies, to me, that these two should be equal: that my work should be 50% and my life should be 50%. And frankly, that is just not my goal.
Work-life-relationships-home-volunteering blend, a.k.a. LIFE, is simply finding the blend in your life that works for you. There are days I pour so much more into my work. And days I pour everything into my family. Days where I feel like all is well and I am achieving both the musts and the wants of life. And days where I feel like I’m drowning. The kind of blend I’m talking about ebbs and flows.
Recently, I’ve seen this images sweep social media:
I believe women have started to combat the “you can have it all” mentality. I have girlfriends with and without kids, working outside of the home and inside of the home, married and unmarried. And truly, I hope that the rise of women supporting women will be a hallmark of our generation. I have been privy to so many conversations that go like this:
“I stay home with the kids.” “That’s awesome!”
“I’m a lawyer downtown, my kids go to daycare.” “That’s awesome!”
“I’m pretty sure I don’t want kids.” “That’s awesome!”
All of this said, I don’t know any mom who doesn’t deal with finding the right work-life blend in their lives, regardless of their “work status.” Start by taking care of yourself – putting your own oxygen mask on first. If you want to explore this a bit, I recommend “The Fringe Hours” by Jessica Turner. Whenever I’m taking care of myself first, I feel better equipped to handle whatever life throws at me. Set priorities – what are the most important areas of your life? What can you say no to in order to free up your cluttered mind? Here are a few tricks that have been helping me stay centered:
Please share your own tips in the comments!
