I know that the least effective thing to say to you right now is "Welcome to the Real World."
That said?
Welcome to the Real World.
The thing I can promise you is this: it gets better.
You will struggle with balance your entire life. Work vs. play. Family vs. friends. Being a wife vs. being a mom. Being productive vs. being a couch potato. And that's okay. Learning to find the balance, living with these oppositional forces is what makes life beautiful and what makes life whole.
Soon, you will get used to this new schedule. Get used to the idea of early bed and early rising. Get used to the idea of not having summers off, of not really having a whole lot of any time off. Also? Your internship is a great way to prepare you for a career, but it is in no way what your career has to be like. My internship was insanity (I worked 40 hours a week, woke up every morning at FIVE THIRTY and STILL held SEVERAL part time jobs before and after my internship and throughout the entire weekend. And I had to walk both ways. Uphill. In the snow. Barefoot.)
But, once you have a "real" job - this is not going to be your life. Your schedule will even out. You'll learn to find new joys in life both in work and at home. You'll even find ways to be social with the people you work with so that you even feel like you're playing when you're working.
Then you'll have kids and you'll have to figure it all out again.
Trust the process.
Know that this is ALL worth it in the end.
Find the simple joys in life.
RELISH AND ENJOY YOUR WEEKENDS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
Start drinking caffinated beverages (if you already do this...get a double shot instead of a single...if you get a double already, start a central line of coffee straight to your bloodstream.)
Call us whenever you need a laugh and we'll tell you our latest parenting fail.
Believe in yourself.
We do already.
Love,
NMOTB
The best advice I received about work/home life was from my cousin, years ago, when I began having a crisis about not feeling "fulfilled" in my career.
ReplyDeleteShe told me, "I work to live, I don't live to work."
For those who can do both, I applaud you, but for those of us that feel unchallenged in the workplace, or simply unfulfilled, it left me with a sense of comfort. It made me feel good about going to work and earning for the living that I wanted.