As a young woman my main focus is on getting through school and getting into college. Then at college focus moves to studies and getting the best degree possible.
Then when you are at college your realise that you should be doing voluntary work and building up your work experience so that when you leave college you have some practical experience to go with your academic qualifications.
Then graduation comes and the push is on to find employment..If lucky this follows and we trundle along, finding our professional feet and learning the day to day realities and skills of our chosen profession.
Not to rest on our laurels, it would seem that travel is the way to broaden your mind, broaden your experience and learn about yourself...Adults taking Gap Years and off we go with our backpacks to FIND OURSELVEs.
Then , coming back back from our amazing travels, albeit a reluctant return, because you have realise that you love the liberation of travel, of being away from home and of re-inventing ourselves.
Then you return home, thinking that you are more at peace within yourself and realise that now, being laid back is not on the cards..its all about getting a job again and getting a decent credit rating with which we can hope in time to secure a mortgage and buy our own home....or if we are Lucky, we will find a partner with whom we can buy a house...
after years of saving and searching at last with our beloved, we find a house, buy it, decorate and move in, thinking that we can nest a bit and enjoy the fruits of our labour...but no....onwards it goes again. ITs all about getting engaged and getting married, because in spite of thinking times have changed and that its acceptable for people to live together under the one roof, in fact no...its seems that getting married is still expected of us.
so onto the next treadmill we go and before we know what has happened there are engagements and weddings and honeymoons and finally back to the marital home, let the nesting and resting begin.........
no indeed, dont be ridiculous, now its already open season and people are asking asking asking about the patter of tiny feet, in spite of the fact that the duty free purchases from your honeymoon are still in the kitchen..
on we go and pregnancy looms which is wonderful. your new baby arrives and your are absolutely besotted and then your realise, that all your hard work at college to secure a profession has now gone up in the air because you cant imagine leaving your new baby and going back to work..
then the reality of a return to work comes and childcare arrangements are made and off we go back to work with a little pain in the heart for leaving the baby with childcare........
we try to re immerse ourselves in our professional world as best we can and try and steady ourselves out again...but no sooner do we do so when we have to answer questions about when baby number two will be on the cards....mother of god.....
and then baby number two is on the cards, because we dont want to leave too long a gap between our kids...and we have to face our boss again to tell them our news....
and off we go again on mat leave, baby number two arrives and while we feared we mightnt be able to love any child as much as our first, we find ourselves totally besotted with our new arrival.
then the back to work comes, and while we are lonely to leave our angels, a guilty part of us realises we are happy to go back to work because we enjoy it, we enjoy the company and we cant imagine ourselves at home full time with small children....Guilt at every level!!!!
so here we are, back at work, a bit shell shocked after maternity leave and be
wildered as to how a professional dresses, i.e..not in a tracksuit and with a constant supply of baby wipes...
Then when back at work we realise, everybody is on a health kick, working out and training..eating salad and low carbs and entering competitions...holy god, how things move forward and leave us behind.
going for a simple walk does not seem to matter, we must jog, and then when we have a handle on that concept, we realise absolutely everybody is running, 5k, then 10k then bloody marathons, triathlons and iron man competitions.
people are doing races at the weekend for fun, husband and wives vying with each other over who will mind the kids while they participate in triathlons every other weekend....
l say bring on the next stage....acceptance, peace and the hope that the goal posts will finally stop moving.....
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