Why there’s no such thing as ‘having it all’ — and there never will be

This article —
Why is ‘having it all’ just a women’s issue? — is
getting a ton of buzz.

For good reason.

My first thought was, “Who asked you?”

I realize that Ann Marie Slaughter has acheived a large
measure of professional and personal success, by most
people’s stadards.

But in the article, she writes that a friend of hers
implored her “not to write” a column about how women can’t
have it all. She thought maybe too many women would
believe her and stop trying.

“Having it all” is perhaps the most personal sentiment we
can feel as humans — it is a feeeling that resides in our
hearts and souls next to gratitude and inner happiness,
and dare I say, peace.

For some women, having it all means having a solid
marriage, healthy children and a garden in the back yard.

For others it means a high-powered career and influential
circle of friends.

Still others want a combination of the two.

And the feeling that cannot possibly “have it all” because
of the natural limits put on us by our everyday
circumstances is most certainly not limited to those of
the female persuasion.

In the end, perhaps it is as Ellen Goodman said, we can
all have everything, just not at the same time.