Animal, vegetable or obstacle?...

I am sure there was very little sympathy for the ‘plight’ of Gwyneth Paltrow last month when she suggested that her life and challenges as a working mother outweighed those of the rest of us … If you have time, you might enjoy the open letter one mum wrote in the New York Times in response to Gwyneth’s struggle: http://nypost.com/2014/03/27/a-working-moms-open-letter-to-gwyneth-paltrow/. 

Juggling work and children can be really daunting for even the most efficient and robust of us. It’s not just the guilt (we’re expected) we often do feel but the actual practical reality of juggling your needs, the demands of your children and family and also those of your employer which can sometimes seem overwhelming. If you’re returning to work having taken time out to have a family, there are some real and perceived concerns that can create major ‘barriers to entry’ even before you’ve decided on what job to return to.

Currently Gwyneth P has decided she is prepared to juggle the demands of an international acting career with the upbringing of her children and is dealing with the compromises this requires.  Whether she has made the right decision or not, only she can decide. 

If you have made the decision to return to work, whether it is through financial necessity or not, the next step is to work out what is important about your next job, for you and your situation - what will make you happy and what won’t. Be prepared to make decisions and be kind to yourself when you decide to change those decisions if at first you don’t succeed. If there are obstacles, perceived or otherwise, along the way to finding the right job for you, a test of how much you really want it will be if your obstacles become excuses because obstacles are surmountable and excuses are not.