Hello and Welcome Home!
Do you ever wonder if your daily routine at work can help make being a dad any easier? Have you ever wondered if your work life can teach you things about your family life? I know it seems illogical, but sometimes wondering about these things can impact your family life in ways you may not even realize.
I used to work 6 or 7 days a week for 10 to 12 hours a day.
Yep, I finally admitted it.
While in ministry and in the real world, I have had jobs that required this. I'm sure those reading this have run into the same struggle. Its called imbalance. Sometimes I think back to those days and wonder why and realize it all really came down to two things; The Demands of Others and The Need for Money.
Yep, I said that too!
I have never been one to think about myself, we established that in one of my last few posts. I have always put the need above the Journey. While I am learning to break out of the imbalance I mentioned earlier. It's still something I will struggle with for the rest of my life. It comes and goes but always remains.
When I think back to the old days of working so much I ponder, relentlessly I might add, what my life was like then to what my life is like today. There is a significant difference from the old me to who I am today. I purposefully never work more than 45 hours a week. Do I miss the money? Yes, I do, but that is a post for another time. Do I miss helping others as much? Yes, I do, sometimes, but I find ways to do this still, just not as extravagantly as before.
I have come to realize that being a dad comes with moments that are far more valuable than any amount of money or Job. I have come to understand the importance of embracing those moments as much as humanly possible. Do I embrace them all, NOT AT ALL! I am only human after all. We all are, so there is no need to be too hard on ourselves.
Some of the best examples I use when teaching my children 'the lessons of life' are the experiences I have when I'm at work today or experiences I lived when I worked 6 or 7 days a week for 10 to 12 hours a day. Those experiences can help me teach my children lessons I could not teach them if I had not learned those life lessons myself.
Sure, it does seem strange to say to my eldest "I have a boss at work, if I don't do what they ask of me, I get in trouble. If I don't take responsibility for my actions and things go the wrong way, I can lose my job. This could lead to a whole bunch of other things we don't want." The reality is though, that telling her that helps her understand why it's important for her to say, do her homework or clean up after herself.
She learned a life lesson from an experience I could possibly have at work. It is also possible to take the experiences we have at home into the workplace, breaking up arguments between my kids is definitely an experience that has helped me at work, if you get my drift.
There are things that happen in our work life that will never relate to our home life and vice-versa, but the reality that I have come to accept is that being a dad means a lot of different things. It also means that as a parent being attentive to the lessons your children need to learn is part of everyday life.
There are things that happen in our work life that will never relate to our home life and vice-versa, but the reality that I have come to accept is that being a dad means a lot of different things. It also means that as a parent being attentive to the lessons your children need to learn is part of everyday life.
Living by Faith, With Our Family,
M.E.
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