I don’t
know how I got to the idea of staying at home with my children for a while.
Maybe this requires a little philosophical thinking…
The most
important thing for me is to live in the moment. You can’t tell what tomorrow
brings. Then one other important thing is to live your life according to some
kind of values – for somebody it’s money, for somebody it’s work, for somebody
it’s children, for somebody it’s animals. And people are different – you can’t
judge people by living their lives the way they have chosen to. Also one has to
remember that your background defines
very much who you are. Your genes, culture and upbringing gives you the
fundament on which you build your own life the way you want to – I hope. I know
that not all have chance to choose but that’s also a big reason for this blog.
If I can encourage somebody to choose her or his own path, this writing will
have some meaning.
I have always
tried to live according to my values. And by doing that I hope to find happiness
and satisfaction. If that really works I’m not sure. There are things that you
can’t do much about and life is not always easy. Lately I feel more that by
living your life the way you want to, you learn to swim better – you survive
better from the negative things that come ahead.
I love
children and I have always wanted a lot of them. Unfortunately it took me quite
a long time before I had my firstborn. I think it was for the best although I’m
sure that ten years ago I would have had more energy to stay awake in the
nights – I matured quite slowly and it took me a long time before I figured out
what I want to do when I’m a grownup. After six years of intensive studying I
finally graduated some years ago just before S was born.
My number
one value is family and friends. I don’t like money very much – don't get me wrong - money is important but according to the studies when your income rate is more than 60 000 U$a year, the value of happiness doesn't increase anymore. Let me give you
an example. After graduation I worked a lot – approx. 80 hours a week. My
income was double to what I make now but I wasn't very happy - I had to work alone and I was at work all the time. Because of that I saw S very little when he was a baby. I changed my job when S was eight months old. Now I have regular work hours and colleagues that I can talk to during the day. I don't have that much money but I have enough to make a living.
Let's go back to the importance of living in the moment. I see people around me who dedicate their life to work. It's fine if they have chosen to do so but it's not fine if they regret it later. You might wake up in your 50's and realize that you don't know your children or you can get a cancer. Don't live for the future - live for the moment. I want to be at home when the kids are young because they are young only once and I might regret later that I didn't do it when I had the chance.