Now that my kids are young adults, I look back and wonder why I made certain decisions: answering emails after the kids went to bed, going in to work early so could could leave by 5:30…. I look back and now realize that it’s time that I can’t get back. With my son out in his own and my daughter in college, getting the family together for a dinner and a game happens far less frequently. But maybe that’s why I stopped climbing the career ladder. The social contract between employers and employees is broken. No amount of money can ever get us time back.
It turns out it was in fact worth it for both of us. I had no doubts given our interactions here BUT I deeply understand this subject/question. I’m super grateful for the time you had. Kids, career, husband, life and all in Paris. Time is valuable. I’m glad to have gotten some of it. And…now for the live. I can’t wait!
Time is about making memories, when my children were little my husband and I spent a lot of time on our own childhood memories so that we focused on the important ones, like holidays and Saturday mornings, less memorable who took me to dancing class.
Greeting from Barcelona! Heartwarming to see more folks resisting our American transaction culture. I myself struggle with the urge to see time as “wasted” when those two hour lunches last till six - or in the case of Spain, much much later, but I’m working on it. Those long stints of time with other humans are what keeps places like France and Spain feeling more human and less digital, less lonely. When we constantly try to squeak out more from time rather than relaxing into it, we miss out on our own lives.
This line really struck me, "And once you start expecting a return, life becomes surprisingly expensive."
We moved to Nigieria 2.5 years ago and were totally asking the question will it be worth it. But this mindset shift is really key in reframing it all, "time is just the medium in which life happens."
And loved your point that the things which seemed "worth it," were generally unpredictable.
Now that my kids are young adults, I look back and wonder why I made certain decisions: answering emails after the kids went to bed, going in to work early so could could leave by 5:30…. I look back and now realize that it’s time that I can’t get back. With my son out in his own and my daughter in college, getting the family together for a dinner and a game happens far less frequently. But maybe that’s why I stopped climbing the career ladder. The social contract between employers and employees is broken. No amount of money can ever get us time back.
It turns out it was in fact worth it for both of us. I had no doubts given our interactions here BUT I deeply understand this subject/question. I’m super grateful for the time you had. Kids, career, husband, life and all in Paris. Time is valuable. I’m glad to have gotten some of it. And…now for the live. I can’t wait!
Time is about making memories, when my children were little my husband and I spent a lot of time on our own childhood memories so that we focused on the important ones, like holidays and Saturday mornings, less memorable who took me to dancing class.
You only get to live through time once
Yep we treat time differently in different countries 😉 A long Sunday lunch would feel like a luxury in Ireland I think 🤔
Greeting from Barcelona! Heartwarming to see more folks resisting our American transaction culture. I myself struggle with the urge to see time as “wasted” when those two hour lunches last till six - or in the case of Spain, much much later, but I’m working on it. Those long stints of time with other humans are what keeps places like France and Spain feeling more human and less digital, less lonely. When we constantly try to squeak out more from time rather than relaxing into it, we miss out on our own lives.
This line really struck me, "And once you start expecting a return, life becomes surprisingly expensive."
We moved to Nigieria 2.5 years ago and were totally asking the question will it be worth it. But this mindset shift is really key in reframing it all, "time is just the medium in which life happens."
And loved your point that the things which seemed "worth it," were generally unpredictable.