Letting go of being superwoman!
I have been hesitating writing this for a while, but here goes! When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, of course I was stunned by being delivered the news by the doctor at Breast Screen, ...
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@Keeping_positive1 I never wanted to be a superwoman either. I felt the need to be productive, but I didn’t want to be seen as a hero. And I hate asking for help, so as a single mum I needed to work twice as hard to make sure I never had to. I was quite distressed that I couldn’t even take a yearly holiday. So many people commented on how strong I was and how well I was doing, and I just wanted to cry and scream that it wasn’t my choice and I just wanted a break!!! It definitely wasn’t my conscious choice to work that hard and put myself last, but I just felt so stuck. I feel a lot of women are/were in the same situation, yet still can’t take a break even after they’re diagnosed.
And that’s a shocking comment by your psychologist!! I don’t think ‘work’, as in career, gives us our self worth. There are women who are home makers, so what are they supposed to feel like, losers??? 😠. Our self worth comes from many places, and work certainly isn’t the main one. Society definitely puts too much pressure on women, to be full time workers, child carers, other family member carers, home makers, all in 24hr?? Where does she come in? 🤔. To me, it’s either your career or your children, at least til they’re old enough. Otherwise, you’re stretching yourself too thin. And there should be no guilt in choosing whichever one a woman wants. Also, a woman shouldn’t be responsible for always having dinner, laundry etc ready despite working full time hours. But that would be in an ideal world, wouldn’t it? 🤨