???? Opt-out generation, is that really what I am ....

I know I know... I totally fell off the blogging wagon... but unfortunately blogging is not really at the top of my priorities and so of course it was bound to happen

However it is a new year and with that I have a few blog posts that have been in "draft" mode for a while... so maybe you all will see a few more blog posts in the next few weeks.
Anyway a few months ago I came across this article and really got me thinking....

The Opt out Generation Wants Back In

Opt out generation? I have to say I really don't like that term and no I did not read every last page of this really long article.

However I would like to mention this article which I have to say is one of my favorite articles on the topic... Why Women Still Can't Have It All

I have to admit the first time I read this article I felt very guilty... you throw around names of some of the most successful women today while at the same time little old me is contemplating a rather huge career change all in the name of work-life balance and of course there is going to be guilt.

I really feel this article hit home for me (and I recommend reading it from begining to end)....
- how older women who grew up during the feminist movement have a much more extreme few on women in the workforce, and often times they look down on (or are harder on) my generation when they choose family over career.
-She admits that things have come a long way however things need to continue to change and evolve, this includes changing the attitudes and views on how we work in this country (for both men and women!).
-Even down to the fact it is more acceptable for a orthodox Jewish man to leave work early on a Friday in the name of religion but looked down on if I did the same thing for my kids.

I have a lot of favorite quotes from this article but here are some of my favorites:

"I realized what should have perhaps been obvious: having it all, at least for me, depended almost entirely on what type of job I had. The flip side is the harder truth: having it all was not possible in many types of jobs, including high government office—at least not for very long"

And one more quote....

"Bronnie Ware, an Australian blogger who worked for years in palliative care and is the author of the 2011 book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, writes that the regret she heard most often was “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” The second-most-common regret was “I wish I didn’t work so hard.” She writes: “This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship.”



So while I am annoyed at the term Opt-Out generation I do appreciate that there are others out there who have their eyes wide open to what it means to balance work and life. That we have come a long way and I do have it better than others but that there is still ways to go because it is not perfect.