I think I accidentally crushed a thirty-something’s hopes with a fifty-something’s experience. But the disappointment rapidly washing over her, the downward dip of her beautiful brown eyes, made me want to snatch my words from the air, stuffing them back into my mouth begging her forgiveness for flaunting my version of truth, crushing her spirit of possibilities.
That was not my intention.
But it’s out there and I can’t take it back. And, unlike when I grew up, as women supporting women, we need to be mindful of hyperbole.
Can we have it ‘all’?
My answer is no – not all the time and not all at once.
Life is a journey.
Life is growth.
Life is balance.
Life is a dance.
As a girl growing up in the 70s and 80s with parents of the 50s I heard a lot of differing views. From conservatives to feminists to a Enjoli commercial . “I can bring home the bacon/ Fry it up in a pan/ And never, ever let you forget you’re a man.”
Seriously. This is the media I grew up with.
Here’s the deal; the push to ‘have it all’ is EXHAUSTING.
Ask a new mom, with a full time job she loves and a husband she adores.
Ask an entrepreneur at a startup juggling business, communications, logistics and global finances.
Ask the emergency room doctor, paying off huge student loan debt, and too busy to date.
Can you have it all?
I’m going to quote Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
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There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
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a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
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a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
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a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
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a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
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a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
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a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
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a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
There is a season for all things. If it is in your wheelhouse you will achieve your desires. But it may not be all at once or in the time you want it.
Until then seek joy in the now.
Be mindful of the season you are in right now – today.
Embrace it. Trust the process.
Sending you love and happiness.
❤