The Weather of Life

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day that simply says 'I will try again tomorrow.'" ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Not to make this post about women... since it's really going to be about balance, or how life is never balanced, but... I find women trying to find balance all the time, as highlighted in this article by HuffPost. Yeh, I know, it's another article about working mothers... I enjoyed it, even though the women quoted in it say they were misquoted... whatevs...

She told me that while corporate lip-service to workers' needs may have changed, society's definitions have not. The "perfect mother," she says, is still "someone who is always available to her children," and the "perfect worker" is "someone who is always available to work. They are both flawed ideals, but anyone who doesn't live up to it is going to be stigmatized."

I think in general that the idea of "dedication" has gotten mixed up with the phrase "always available". We've let technology link us inextricably with everyone so that we can always be connected. Children can text parents all day long. Our friends can poke us whenever they're thinking of us. Apple phones have even made it possible to stalk via GPS our partners/kids (the iphone is EVIL, I knew it!).

Anyway, women everywhere are searching for work/life balance and I just think this is, as Solomon would say, "chasing after the wind." Work, just like family, friends, and other aspects of "life" has ups and downs... seasons, if you will. Yes, it's not great when multiple facets of life are experiencing torrential downpours at one time, or dry seasons, or whatever weather metaphor we want to use, but generally, the give and take has to happen.

Lately, things at work have been intense... just a lot going on. I'm seriously looking forward to Easter when I know most of the work will be completed and another season can take hold (the serious training season for Tough Mudder). In a few days I'll be able to rest, run, and relax a bit, and then tuck in and work out till I can do more than 15 pushups and run more than 10 miles. This will continue till May, when I'll face the warm weather and the gradual waning of the school year. Friend time will take over as picnics and coffee/park dates happen (and Oh, they will happen a lot).

When people are always fighting for balance, I just think that maybe they are trying to do too many things. No one wants to choose, but isn't that wisdom? The privilege to choose has left us trying to do everything and then being unhappy anyway. You have the chance to choose what you want, so why don't you? Isn't the ultimate rebellion not fulfilling every social protocol you're expected to, but throwing off the expectations of others and being satisfied with your own choices?

I'll leave you with this gem: "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad." Methinks what we, what policy-makers and journalists and analysts need, is not necessarily more knowledge (God knows we are inundated with data), but with the wisdom to see clearly and choose wisely. Not choosing has enslaved women to the expectations of others, just as not having a choice once did. Freedom awaits you. Just claim it.