“Some of us are wired for work. It’s in our bones. Some of us are wired for family. And some of us are wired for all of it.” Mika Brezenski in All things at Once.
It is tough to strike a balance between work and family life and Mika tells her story in an honest and straightforward way. In fact, it is just not Mika’s story so many full-time moms around the world would relate to the daily struggles and pains that we all go through trying to have it all – or just trying to maintain a balance in our personal and professional lives.
Mika’s story relates poignantly to any working mom’s journey of growing, learning and the struggles to achieve a balance between work and personal life.
And we all connect with it easily. I admired Mika for this statement in her book: “Your job can be a big part of who you are, but it shouldn’t be the whole package. Your family and relationships should be central, but they needn’t be front and center at all times.” Wouldn’t you agree?
Discussions, blogs, articles, books when talking about the work-life balance suggest not to “have it all”, you have to give some to get some, but many women that we see around have done “all things at once”. To have a busy high flying career, a family life and a healthy marriage; but all of this comes with a trade-off – some give and take as you miss out on the kids schedules, miss out on being part of their lives when they want to turn back and say “look mommy, I did this”. For a woman managing a high flying career and family with young kids is mighty tough. Going through one mad scramble after another we miss out on the overall goals and objectives of our existence.
Mika says: “Later on, going over this frantic period in my life, trying to understand my impulse and motivation, I began to realize that women sometimes make life-altering career decisions with a kind of gun to their heads. We put ourselves in these false do-or-die scenarios that leave us thinking if we don’t overextend ourselves, or push, push, push after opportunities when they appear, that we’ll never accomplish our goals or rise in the estimation of our peers. That was me, there was the CBS night shift, only I failed to consider that I’d already accomplished my primary goals; I was married to an amazing man, with a beautiful baby girl and a career I loved.”
See a video here as Mika talks about her book.
We all have stories of our lives but not all of us can or have shared it to encourage or intrigue others to a discussion on how difficult it is for a working mother to aspire for career promotions and work hard to keep the family together. Love you Mika for sharing and inspiring – great book that many working moms all over the world will enjoy reading and learning that it is great to slow down once in a while but also sometimes “shedding your identity as a professional can be as damaging as holding it too close.”
MIKA BRZEZNSKI is a co-host of “Morning Joe” and an MSNBC anchor. She will also co-host the new WABC New York radio show, “Joe & Mika,” which plans to go national next year. Brzezinski also reports on “NBC Nightly News” and is an alternating news anchor for “Weekend Today.”Prior to joining MSNBC, Brzezinski was an anchor of the “CBS Evening News Weekend Edition” and a CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to “CBS Sunday Morning” and “60 Minutes.” In September 2001, she became CBS’s principal “Ground Zero” reporter for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Get this book at: Amazon
(Please Note: I have not been paid to write this review, it is a sincere opinion and my wish to present the readers of this blog to get to know good books that bring value to day to day work life and overall improve our strengths)