The cap badge on my dad’s uniform read ‘Work is Worship”. He had a very disciplined work ethic and a strong sense of duty. I grew up believing that work is indeed a form of worship.

But, the design of life seems grossly flawed as I get older. The years that I needed to dedicate to work to build a career exactly coincided with those I needed to build a family.

I think I did my best to balance the two, often at the cost of my own well-being. I know many women who do the same thinking it is a ‘dutiful’ motherly thing to do when it is not. By the time I got to the stage where I could relax a bit and have some control over my working hours, the kids were fairly independent and wanted to spend time with their friends. Limited number of holidays, long hours spent at work, working weekends, no time for hobbies, thinking about work at home, bringing work and work frustrations home…thinking that one day it will get better. And the years roll on until it’s too late already.

Wouldn’t it be so easy for kids to think that parent’s work is more important than them? I know it’s not true but did my everyday life convey that well enough?

I wonder if this is a flawed design? Or is it me?