"That's the wonderful thing about seeing that our society makes impossible demands on all women. You free yourself to ignore social pressures and begin creating a life that comes from your own deepest desires, hopes and dreams. You'll stop living life from the outside in and begin living it from the inside out.
Women describe the moments when they really "got" that the expectations they'd been trying to fulfill were unfulfillable. They say this epiphany was terrible because it meant relinquishing the goal of total social acceptance. But it was also the beginning of freedom, of learning to seek guidance by turning inward to the heart, rather than outward to social prescriptions." - Martha Beck, Oprah.com http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/05/21/o.balance/index.html
Living life from the inside out- not as easy as it sounds. For the past three years, I have been pondering the concept of balance or lack thereof. I left a career that was extremely demanding because I knew it wouldn't allow me to raise children. What I struggle with is what to do now. I'm in an in-between stage- married, but no children yet. I'm still trying to stop living based on what my life looks like to other people. I went to college when I was 15, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering when I was 20, and received a commission as an officer in the United States Navy a few months later. I did well at everything in the Navy, obtaining all qualifications early. I attended nuclear power school and was qualified to run a nuclear power plant. I completed three overseas deployments. Once you obligate yourself to the military, they don't require much input from you. Your career path is set. And then I left. Now that I can be anything I want to be, I'm at something of a loss. Martha Beck talks about doing what is in your nature. What is in my nature? I don't think it's engineering. My favorite part of the Navy was always the people- leading a team to accomplism an important task- and not over weeks and months, but in 6 hours or a day at most. I enjoyed dealing with the ups and downs of people's lives as a division officer/counselor/peer/friend. Living from the inside out - something to think about.
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