The Amazing Profession of Motherhood
Where would we be without mothers? In my opinion, Motherhood is very special profession. Motherhood also has very unique and demanding characteristics that are frequently misunderstood. Let me tell you why I believe that motherhood is an amazing and special profession.
Motherhood is the most important profession in the world.
Mothers are entrusted, and are almost totally responsible for the health, care, training, morals, security, emotional strengths, attitudes, social understanding discipline, and learning success of their children. Collectively, mothers control the development and growth of almost all children in the world, who eventually mature into adults. The relationships children and even adults have with their mothers shape who they become as adults. The results of the efforts of mothers are universal, extremely powerful, everlasting, and extremely important to every person on the globe. Unfortunately, motherhood is not given the respect and honor it deserves, as the world shaping profession it is.
Motherhood is a very difficult and diverse profession.
Mothers are required to possess the knowledge, practice the skills, and perform the duties of so many different life functions that it would be impossible to list them all. Here are but a few. Mothers must successfully perform as nurses, cooks, nutritionists, teachers, trainers, educators, coaches, therapists, disciplinarians, financial advisors, protectors, cleaning specialists, transportation specialists, sports enthusiasts, clothing and appearance specialists, peacemakers, mediators, and spiritual advisors. Wow!
Mothers are given little, if any, prior formal training.
A vast majority of the knowledge, skills, and experience of performing all of the important motherhood life functions are learned ON THE JOB. I know of no college or university that teaches or trains mothers. They must learn motherhood on their own, and by following their instincts. Other professions like attorneys, medical doctors, and dentists, must attend anywhere from six-to-ten years of additional education after high school to be qualified to begin their profession. Yet, mothers are required to be fully knowledgeable of all motherhood requirements and operate at almost full speed from virtually the very beginning of motherhood, with very little, if any, training.
Motherhood is a non-income producing profession.
Even though mothers perform the most important profession in the world, they rarely, if ever, generate monetary income from their motherhood efforts. Mothers are not paid to perform their multitude of very important duties and activities. Mothers are rarely paid to change diapers, prepare meals, or train their children. Mothers are frequently supported by their husbands, who are expected to generate enough income to pay for their needs. Unfortunately today, there appears to be an increasing trend of expecting mothers to continue performing their full time motherhood professional duties and also work at an income-producing job to generate money.
The time and energy demands on mothers diminish with time.
As the youngest child grows up, the time demands, effort demands, mental involvement, and personal contact by mothers with their children will shrink. Motherhood with young babies is almost a 24 hours, seven days a week profession. Think of the relief mothers feel when their youngest baby finally sleeps through the night for the first time, without awakening for feeding or to have a diaper changed. The job requirements of motherhood are greatly reduced, as their youngest child goes off to school. Time and energy demands on mothers diminish even more as their youngest child continues to grow and attend even more out of the house activities. Eventually, mothers will be faced with an empty nest as the purposes of their motherhood vocation depart.
Mothers feel frustrated in their quest for a new profession.
Mothers frequently feel stymied when they seek new careers. They feel inadequate because they have been out of the work force for so long, or because they feel they have less education than they think is necessary, or because they are older than other potential entry level workers, or because finding and applying for jobs and can be a daunting and confusing process. Unfortunately, the normal Human Resources culture of the corporate world and the owners of small business don't always treat empty nest mothers as a valuable source of productive workers.
Mothers bring exceptional skills and experience to the workplace.
Mothers are far more qualified and far more valuable producers than they, or the business world
realizes. The skills, experience, knowledge, sense of responsibility, wisdom, patience, leadership, organizational capabilities, resourcefulness, human relationship capabilities, and other real life skills that mothers developed over the years of motherhood are extremely valuable to people who recognize their true worth.
If you are a mother at this stage in life…
You will want to fill the void with another supportive profession.
You will always be a mother to your children. However, you will experience a void when your children begin to leave home. You will eventually want (and most often need) to fill this void with another career or work position. At some point in time, you will want to convert your experience, your energies, your need for achievement, your need for involvement, your passions, and your knowledge that was fulfilled through full-time motherhood into something else. You will want to discover and operate in a new profession, or work position, or career that allows you to fulfill your many passions and desires. You want to do this without interfering with mother-related responsibilities and on your own terms.
You will want to take control of your work selection process.
You will not want to rely on the unappreciative and unmotivated corporate and business worlds to select the right professions for you. When you take control over your work selection process, you will be able to discover your true value and unleash your energies towards a new career that will be an excellent fit for you at this new point in life. When you chose the new career that best suits your passions, priorities, experiences and talents you will achieve exceptional successes. You will also discover how much easier it will be to attract significant monetary and personal rewards when you operate in the new career that you love. It is never too late for you to capitalize on what you have to offer and what you want to do, when you focus your efforts towards the right work situation for you.
It's time to consider yourself first for once.
The key to you being able to discover then attain the next career that best suits you is to look within yourself first. You come with a multitude of different experiences and priorities. Many times you are faced with option overload when you try to pick the right post full-time motherhood career. You have also focused so much of your time, energy, and thinking on the growth and improvement of your children (and spouse) that you have forgotten to take care of yourself. You will want to stop, take a deep breath, and seek what you want out of the rest of your life.
Find the right person to assist you.
How will you be able to change directions and concentrate on yourself first, to discover what personal motivations you have, after years of putting others first? You will want to find the right person who will focus only on you as a person and assist you to unravel the mystery of who you are and who you want to become. You want someone who is highly motivated to assist you, who is trustworthy, who is objective, who is nonjudgmental, and has done this before. You might consider using a friend, but objectivity becomes an issue. You could consider using a therapist, but you do not need to be fixed. Another alternative would be to consider using a professional life coach to support you in this process. We have found that mothers who use a life coach transitioned into wonderful and enjoyable new lives, without interfering with their motherhood.
Conclusion
Now you see why I believe that Motherhood is the most intriguing, important, and under appreciated profession in the world. Yet, most mothers don't anticipate that motherhood also has a very unique and misunderstood reduction in the time and effort demands as their children grow up. As a mother, you will want to recognize and plan for the need to re-direct your wonderful talents and passions towards a new vocation as the daily demands of motherhood wind down. Making the transition to a new vocation can be daunting. The best course for you to take control over this transition and select the right vocation for you is to seek assistance from the right person, and not try to do it alone.
About the Author
Provided as an educational service by Bill Dueease of The Coach Connection, where "connecting great people with great coaches" is their goal. You may receive a free copy of the article "The Ten Paths to Human Improvement" by contacting The Coach Connection at 800-887-7214 or 239-415-1777 or coaches@findyourcoach.com, or http://www.findyourcoach.com
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