As a young woman, I was raised to go to college and prepare to take the world by storm. My mother led by example, going back to school in her 30's and getting the education that hadn't been available to her right after high school. My Dad always made it clear that I was to go to college, and to pursue a career. My mother juggled school, work, and motherhood, and seemed content with her choices. In my heart of hearts, I could always see a future full of children for myself. I did want that college education, and I pursued my career with verve, but the moment I met my spouse, my priorities started to morph almost instantaneously. I worked full time until my third child was born. I worked hard, learned from mentors, became a pretty decent leader, and was rewarded at work, but I always had a self imposed limitation. I maintained certain boundries at work, that allowed me to be the kind of wife and mother I desired to be. While my VP, Terri, was incredibly supportive of me, I couldn't have asked for a better mentor, she did acknowledge and forced me to do so as well, that these self imposed limitations were going to get in my way of achieving the highest levels of success at our company. It became clear that I would have to make a choice. Sound familiar? To be continued.......
I am helping to prepare a baby shower for a young woman at our church. She is young, just 22. Thinking about her, and what the future may hold for her and her little family, got me to thinking about life at 22. Much has changed for me since I was 22. That was really a difficult time. I didn't realize at the time that it was difficult. I had graduated from college, was having a post college, pre-real life, super good time. I was bar tending, partying, picking up and traveling to far away places to party some more. I didn't really have much in the way of financial responsibility yet, and my parents were living in Egypt-- leaving me in charge of the house and my younger sister. It was an "out all night, sleep all day", kind of life. To be honest, I was setting a pretty poor example for my sister, who at the time was working full-time at a nursing home, and was far more responsible than I was. Looking back at that time, and even later, till about age 25, it make...
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