Uncountable value of life

This story is one of our common conversations in the car during the bad traffic in Jakarta.  My husband told my daughter and me that his colleague who is very smart, quit her job to take care of her children. I said to my husband, “It is good for her and I am happy for her too. That is probably the hardest decision for most of the career women” 
Then I said to my daughter, “ I am grateful to your dad, who could give me the opportunity to stay home being a mother. We didn’t have much money or luxurious life, but that I had the most precious time to be with you when your sister and you were babies. I could enjoy every moment of your growth. It is really priceless and I never regret it “

My daughter asked me, “ What if your husband didn’t earn enough money for you to stay home?” 
“ I think it is more into how you manage the income and you need to sacrifice for not wanting too much in life. And if you have a choice to work at home so you can still take care of your children. We need to learn how to be grateful because we can have what we need, not what we want “

In life there are many concepts about counting your blessings. Most of the concepts have two categories, uncountable vs. countable or tangible vs. intangible.
Both are the same: there are values in what you have in life.  Some are really real, so you can touch, and you can put the price on it. But many things in life the values seem invisible to us. We live among the people who can only value the countable things or the tangible things so if we cannot have something that countable, are we considered as a failure?

I don’t agree with that concept.  And when my husband discussed more about the achievement of women in the business or in the big company. I have a critical question for him, “What is the value of your life? It is the most important how you give the meaning into your life. Maybe the value is in your career, but at the end of your life the most valuable thing you have in only your family. So people who spend more time and investment into their children, it is not only for them but also for the society. If our children become good person in their society, we help to build the young generation. The impact will be widen to the world”

Women, who care about their children and sacrifice their dream or career, have more missions in her life. They have their values of life, the meaning of their life. It is not about money, position, or anything that countable in this world.

This is about “to love the children”, and "to sacrifice the most important thing in the world; Time which we can not turn the clock back”

If you are working as a full time mother at home, you probably don’t have something fancy or luxurious life; but actually you are choosing the hardest job in the world but you make the biggest impact in the world as well.

“Motherhood is a choice you make everyday, to put someone else's happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you're not sure what the right thing is...and to forgive yourself, over and over again, for doing everything wrong.”
― Donna Ball, At Home on Ladybug Farm


**Lina Kartasasmita** Jakarta January 17, 2016 at 10.42PM

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