Taking a career break is one of the most important decisions of a woman’s life. Talking about my own experience, I decided to take a break for five years of my professional life for the sake of my children, after my first child was born. The second one followed soon after.
The demon called uncertainty
When you take such a decision, there is an element of uncertainty attached to it. The many thoughts that come to our mind sound like this:
“What if I become obsolete in my skills?”
“Will I have to restart from the beginning and my experience will hold no value after a break?”
“What if I am never able to go back to work?”
Do not worry ladies! Many women are sailing in the same boat as us and many have crossed this stage and reached the other side of the river.
Love your new skills
I decided to embrace this period happily. The moment I made this decision, all doubts vanished and you know what…I ended up learning altogether different life skills from my homemaking experience. Here are some of them:
A knowledge bank: Suddenly you will find that you have all the time that you had been craving for in all those years as a working woman. So, what do you do then? You binge read, lap up the newspaper, watch sensible shows on television and see your knowledge of the world increasing manifold.
Efficient administration: You have done that at your workplace but your house is an altogether different entity. While at work, you have likeminded people, at home you will end up interacting with people from across ages groups and different strata of society. This will hone up your administrative and people skills.
Conflict resolution: You will be amazed to see the development of this skill especially if you have kids. I still cannot believe my capabilities sometimes when I resolve conflicts between young children effectively.
Adaptability: You will have to move out of your supposed comfort zone. But with an open mind, you will soon see yourself becoming more flexible in your conversations and behavior.
The experience of home making will really add to the many skills that you would have gathered over the years. As unbelievable as it may sound now, twenty years down the line, you will be discussing this stage of life a lot with your loved ones, and not just the time you spent at the office.
Written by Ruchi Rajan