Michelle Obama on Finding your way

I am constantly searching for ways to achieve work-life balance and sometimes I wonder whether it’s just me or is every woman around me feeling the same way. Here’s an excerpt from a speech made by Michelle Obama at Howard University that is very comforting:

“In your struggle to figure these things out as women, as professionals, that you have to do what’s right for you at any given time, and that’s going to change–from week to week, from month to month, from year to year.”

She said it was important for women “to be true to yourselves, not to worry too much about what other people are going to think or make of your choices, because everyone will question what you do and tell you you should’ve done it the other way.”

She said that she had dealt with the issue her whole life, “trying to figure out how to juggle work-family balance in the process of getting an education. There isn’t a day that goes by, particularly after having kids, that I don’t wonder or worry about whether I’m doing the right thing for myself, for my family, for my girls.”

Mrs. Obama said priorities will change, as life changes, as people grow older, as they change jobs and their families grow. “The person I was when I was in college is very different than the person that I am today. That person is very different than the person who was single…..I was different when I was married. I was different when I was married with kids. I was different when I was married with kids in certain types of jobs. And every step of the way, I wondered whether I was doing the right thing.”