Work vs Family

Last week, an officemate of mine asked me which is more important for me-- my work or my family.  I confidently answered, "my family".  Well, I work for my family, right?  Actually, I was kinda irritated by his question because it sounded sarcastic...or was it just I was being too sensitive because I didn't want to be confronted like that-- choosing between two important aspects of my life, especially by someone who also has a family himself!

The question was actually just a joke, probably a harmless comment said to me because I excused myself from having an overtime that day because it was by husband's birthday (well, the overtime wasn't paid too!).  But I wasn't amused by that joke.  I felt like I was being pressured to decide according to his view in life.  It wasn't the first time he commented on my decisions regarding my family life, and I found his unsolicited comments and advices quite annoying.

I knew some instances wherein the woman chose her career over her family.  The reason for their decision was that they feel empowered and confident when they become successful at work-- which is true, of course and I'm not against it.  But being too much work-focused can also have consequences.  And for my colleagues who chose work over their families (especially their husbands), they ended up having a broken relationship with them (and changing their Facebook status from "married" to "single").

And I also knew some instances wherein the woman gave up her career in order to be with her family and to become a full-pledged homemaker whose life is dedicated to serve her husband and children.  I often wonder how their family are makes ends meet with only the husband who earns money.  But nevertheless, they still survive.

I never wanted to become a workaholic career woman, nor a full-pledged homemaker.  I like to work...but only for the right reason.  I work for my family, not for the love of work itself (though we also have to love our work in order to be happy...but maybe not too much that we neglect to give time and happiness to our family members).  As we work hard to earn money, we should also work HARDER to have and maintain good relationship with our family...and we can achieve this through prioritization and time management.

La lang, nag-vent out lang ako. Peace. :)