If you want to understand how to become better allies to people with disabilities, then join us at Embracing All Abilities: Including People with Disabilities at Work.
A few months ago I had written an article on how guilty I feel at being a working mother and how I am always at war with myself with regards to this. Here's my story of learning to prioritize for creating a positive experience for myself.
A few months ago I had written an article on how guilty I feel at being a working mother and how I am always at war with myself with regards to this. Here’s my story of learning to prioritize for creating a positive experience for myself.
The last few weeks has been an eye opener for me on why I should not regret working at present and why I should overcome my guilt. I do admit that each morning it is hard for me to leave my son to set off to work. There are enough people around me who think they know my son better than me since I don’t spend that chunk of time with him.
I know that after a 100km round trip to work, I come home to serve others, prepare dinner for my son and just get on with whatever needs attention at home. This leaves me exhausted, with no time for myself and to a certain extent, frustrated. This is the point where my life lessons began.
It suddenly dawned that I have limited energy for the day and I am no superwoman who can do it all and not feel a whiff of exhaustion/negative emotion at the end of the day. I know I have limited energy; therefore, I have to be prudent in how I utilise it. This means I have to prioritize on what the important things I want to accomplish for the day are and focus my energy on only those tasks.
My big priorities for the day are being a happy mother, happy wife and a pragmatic worker at office. For me to accomplish this, I need to invest 100% of energy in creating a positive experience for myself while performing these roles. This means all the negative events of daily life which suck my energy need not be given the same level of importance or attention. This is definitely work in progress and I know every time there is a negative event that comes in my way, I have to consciously remind myself to look at this negativity and say “no, thank you”.
This wasn’t easy in the beginning, but now I find it lot easier to go back to that basal level of happiness and conserve energy so that I can enjoy that extra chase with my son. There have been occasions when I have encountered conflicts in certain situations and I try my best to influence them in a positive manner even if I have to swallow my pride, as I don’t want to lose sight of the bigger picture of being a happy mother.
I realize that trying to throw in some positivity in a conflicting situation recharges my batteries, I feel a sense of contribution and a positive outcome definitely boosts my self-confidence. Maybe what I am writing here might sound such a cliché but, hey I am just sharing my experience!
This level of self-improvement and introspection is certainly not to portray an image of great sacrifices I am making as a mother, but I have a selfish motive behind this. I realize I am in the center of these life events and I just want to gain the most for myself from these. I want to invest the positive energy I extract from these roles to write blogs, enjoy walks with my son, go to the gym, listen to podcasts, buy a nice dress, wear makeup. I want to develop a quality of well-being not to accomplish great things in my life, but just to live in a contented manner on a day-to-day basis.
Having said all this, if one day I have to quit my job to take care of my family, I will do it without any hesitation for the simple reason that I can’t get enough of my son! I am confident that in those changed circumstances as well I will have valuable lessons to learn, again just to be a happy person. I bet every mother has her own narrative for such a story and this is mine.
Image via Pexels
I am a new mother with a PhD in Genetics from Cambridge University. I have been working in Biotech/Pharma companies for more than 10 years. At crossroads now wondering who gets an upper hand read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
Please enter your email address