There are so many worries and anxieties that come with being a mother, however, one of the main concerns that nearly all women have is their ability to simultaneously balance their career and life at home. The truth is many women are filled with anxiety due to the high expectations that are set to be successful. Parenting is hard as it is, especially for mothers, but there are also countless challenges that must be overcome, compromises that have to be made, and a new balance of life to be re-discovered.
Did you know that fewer than one-in-five of all new mothers, and 29 percent of first-time mothers, return to full-time work in the first three years after maternity leave? This falls to 15 percent after five years. Also, around 81 percent of married parents took a career break after their child was born, while only 58 percent of single parents did. What this tells us is that the majority of women give up on their careers after the birth of their children. Women who work in the business industry or are lawyers, doctors, and teachers must all follow a pretty similar journey in deciding their next steps after they gave birth. However, have you thought about how many more factors must be taken for female athletes with kids? How many more internal and external problems are they fighting?
Serena Williams is just one female athlete who has to go through this draining process. This revolutionary female tennis player has 23 singles Grand Slam titles, 14 doubles Grand Slam titles, and is debatably the best female tennis player in the world. However, we must remember that she is a mother, a wife, a woman before she is an athlete. In reality, there are way greater accomplishments that Serena Williams achieved beyond the tennis courts and countless tournaments.
At age 35, Serena had her daughter Olympia. Obviously, the star had to take a break from pursuing tennis competitively so she announced that she would be taking a break for 2 whole seasons. During these 2 years, Williams encountered multiple challenges, both from the physical and mental points of view. Unlike working an office job, being a professional athlete constantly requires you to stay in shape and regularly go through tough training. As her body changed, she gained a few pounds that she soon got rid of, however, it was very mentally draining. With this came her complex feelings that she was also battling. Her previous determination and dedication led her to earn the title of being one of, if not “the best female tennis player” on Earth. With a lengthy break from training and competing, Serena now had to climb up the rankings in the global tennis tournaments again to the #1 top spot. Most people don’t acknowledge the mental toll it can take on a person when they observe their rating go down. This ultimately feels like they are failing, even though this is not the case because they are just taking a break.
When Serena Williams opened up about the difficulties that she had after childbirth, it put her journey into perspective for everyone. It shows that you never know what challenges women are dealing with behind closed doors, and that you should offer your support to people around you regardless of whether they are at the peak of their career, or are having a bad day.
#empowerwomen #freewoman #workingmom #successfulwomen #isupportyou #womensupportwomen #
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