When you get the work-life balance correct, you can live a better life. You have to work and you have to take care of home. Therefore, you have to find a way to make it work in your world.
Your life is better when you learn to balance responsibilities at work and home.
Several times a year, every year, without fail, major news stories are written and produced about how hard it is for women to have it all. These stories talk about how hard it is for women to have a job and a family. If you pay attention to these articles, more often than not, you walk away sad, defeated and hopeless. These reports all seem to say that women are doomed to fail at work and to fail at home and to be miserable in the process. This does not have to be the case. You can balance your responsibilities at home and work. The trick is, you need to do it on your terms and in your real life. Once you start trying to balance things in the real world, in your world, you will be happier, more fulfilled and life will be better.
Believe it or not, you actually do know what is best.
One of the most important things to remember when it comes to balancing your responsibilities at work and home, the person with the best ideas is you. After all, you are the one that goes to your job each work day. You are the one who looks into the eyes of your spouse and children each day. On an hour by hour, day by day basis, you are present in your life. You know what needs more attention. You know where you have to place priority and attention. No one else can make those decisions for you.
The decisions you make when it comes to balancing your responsibilities at work and home may not make sense to anyone else. Don’t worry, they don’t have to. No one else is walking in your shoes on your journey. Your decisions only have to work in your world, not the world at large. If the decisions you make do not coincide with the decisions made by other people, it is okay. Do what works in your life. Think about it. Let’s say it is a Tuesday afternoon and one of your children is starring in a school play that she has worked on for months. At the same time, you have a presentation due for work. If this presentation is successful, you will earn a raise, a promotion and many perks that will make life better for your family.
Some people will tell you that your child’s school play takes priority over all work matters. Those people will tell you that promotions come and go. They will advise you that the school play is a major milestone in your child’s life that cannot be repeated. These people will insist that there is no real choice, obligations to your family come before everything else period, without exception. They will tell you that failing to put your family first at all times and in all things you are a failure as a wife and mother. You will hear other parents say that missing the play may cause your child irreparable harm.
Other people will tell you that you must do the presentation at work. They will tell you that the worst case scenario is that you will keep your job and thus be able to financially care for your family. You will hear people say that best case scenario you will get a promotion, a raise and be in a position to attend school plays in the future. People will tell you that women sabotage themselves and their careers by caring for family over business opportunities. Some may even tell you that your career will be irreparably harmed if you skip this presentation.
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