As I sit in the corner of my bed and sip on my warm cup of tea, my thoughts travel in many places. I find gratitude in being alive today and content with my surroundings.
Life has changed for everyone all around the world after the pandemic. Simply being alive is a blessing. Few days back, we could not even visit our loved ones, we could not travel so easily and had many other restrictions. Still we had to work and earn our living in between all of these obstacles. I realize how important it is to remain healthy and happy in life. Prior to the pandemic, no one truly understood this concept. We thought financial stability is everything. Indeed it is important, but it is not everything. A healthy, happy life is the current trend. Loving your family, loving your precious children and letting them know how important they are in your life, is the latest theme.
We must be self-dependent in order to be happy. And for that reason, education is a must. Without education, we can hardly pursue anything in life. We cannot grow as a nation. Nowadays, it is difficult for men alone to take care of their entire family as a whole. Many new choices are available for men and women to collaborate in partnership. It is not possible for men alone to run the show single handedly any longer as it becomes extremely difficult to meet the needs for everyone in the household. Only together, sharing duties hand in hand can take care of the bigger picture. As for us women, we must strive to fulfill our own needs, wants and wishes. We cannot demand men to always provide everything for us. We must think logically and not put all the burden on men to provide everything for us.
We should all know how to balance life in every segment. Only then we can think about our success and happiness. We women have the responsibility of looking after our own lives, our own fulfillments, our families, parents, parents in-laws, husband, relatives, workplace, households, etc. It’s not so easy. Moreover, if we keep ourselves busy enough with work and focus on our self-development, we will not have time to notice any negativity, baseless complaints, and the shortcomings of those around us.
We must keep ourselves engaged with continuous improvement so as to not have the leisure to compare ourselves to others. This way, we can truly achieve true happiness as human beings. It is quite essential to find the right balance and implement that balance in your workplace. You must know when to switch off work and be attentive to your personal means. This will lead to an adequate work-life-balance. A vacation or a simple break is wonderful at times. Vacations are not a luxury, they are a necessity. A break from work is a great opportunity to recuperate and recharge. This is essential to help people improve productivity and focus.
As women, we have to make sure that we finish our education properly, because we don’t know what lies in our future. No one can guarantee anyone’s economic stability. Life takes turns. We have to be ready to take over and stand independently on our feet to support our families at any given time. We cannot live life depending on others. We have to make it beautiful for ourselves and our families.
A balanced life is very important for one’s success. It is not the certification or the high profile careers that only matter; it is the meaningful relationships with our loved ones that matter the most in the long run.
There needs to be love, balance, sincerity, and patience in place. This actually creates success in our minds. If we only have money, high status in society, or a flashing career, they are not enough to bring happiness. Unless we have quality relationships with people in our lives, we will not be happy, and thus, unsuccessful. My definition of success is our ability to create meaningful and valuable relationships in life. If we have that ability and emotional intelligence then we will be successful; and moreover, the most important relationship is with yourself and with your creator. That is the ultimate means of happiness and success.
A good work-life-balance is what we need to be successful. This way, everything will fall into place with all the roles and relationships in our lives and we will have a peaceful, sound, and successful life.
Aditi Sonia Mansur is a senior lecturer at North South University.
