by Juan Ramos

Created on: September 20, 2010

I don't think anyone who truly values family could ever answer yes to this question because of how it is phrased. The better question is would you sacrifice your families well being for a lack of a career? For most people it is a sad truth that in order to provide what your family needs you might have to work more than you prefer. Ideally every family would enjoy a mother and father and one could work the hard hours while the other one provided full attention to the kids however with millions of single parents in America responsible for millions of children ideal might not be reality.

The real debate is going to come in when sacrificing work causes quality of life issues for your family. With wages and salaries at an unprecedented low growth rate these days you have to work harder to earn less. What if you wanted to put your kids through a certain school, provide braces, piano lessons, soccer equipment, save for their college fund, and much more? How do you find a balance between being a good husband/father, wife/mother, and still be able to go work as much as you need to?

Maybe you chose a specific career that has been your dream for a long time however it requires you to work a lot of hours which may put a damper on your family life. I spent six years in the Marine Corps and I can tell you that many times career Marines are asked to put the Marine Corps first and their families second for the sake of the cause. Combat deployments for months or years at a time can definitely hurt family life. I have friends in federal law enforcement agencies that require them to work a minimum of 50 hours a week and most of the time it is more than that. Whether it for the defense of this country or to be able to create a better future for your children we all have to sacrifice at some point.

I am not saying we should all go work as much as we can and neglect our families just so we can buy the better things however we must consider the reality that some people have no choice but to neglect some of their time with their families in order to provide even the basic things for their families. For most of us we have to find a good balance where we work hard to reach our dreams and provide the best we can however we also take into account quality time and a quality life with our families.

Learn more about this author, Juan Ramos.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.