We did a short hike over the weekend, and the kids were taking their time on the way up. Scraping marks on rocks with stones, making mud puddle designs, following the birds – and just having a nice pottering time (see 1st picture).
I’m glad we didn’t try to hurry them up, to try ensure we reached the (mini) summit, because in the end Amy’s little legs gave out and she refused to walk another step. After a quick discussion of whether to turn back or continue at this point, we decided to try continuing to the top.
Me and my husband ended up carrying her some of the way up and the entire way back down – mostly me because apparently, “mammy is cosier” and I’m choosing to interpret this as a compliment. At the top she was cuddled into my like a baby koala bear – not doing much looking around at the STUNNING view (see 2nd picture)!
Anyway, it reminded me of the importance of enjoying the career journey and checking in with yourself and make sure you are still happy with your future career goals. Of course, there are times when being unhappy in a position makes sense if the future pay offs are worth it (the first year of my PhD comes vividly into view here as an example) – but, if possible, I think it makes sense to choose career paths that are enjoyable along the way.