Career and Relationships are very important and form almost our entire life. To live a balanced, harmonious life, you need to make the two go hand-in-hand. After all, that’s what life is all about. Now, how pleasing this may sound, it is not that easy. A lot of work goes behind making the two parts balance, a significant amount of effort, including adjustments, compromises, and sacrifices, is necessary to maintain this equilibrium.
In moments where you find yourself torn between two significant choices between career and relationships, it’s crucial to approach the decision with practicality. These are likely some of the most pivotal decisions you’ll ever make, and it’s important not to be swayed by emotions alone. Take the time to thoroughly analyze your circumstances and carefully plan your next steps. It’s essential to tune out the opinions of others and focus on what’s realistically achievable. By being practical, I don’t mean sacrificing one option for the other. Instead, strive to find a way to balance both, crafting a solution that integrates the best aspects of each choice.
I'd like to share a bit about my relationship with my husband, Sudhir (I mention his name with his cheerful permission!). Sudhir and I first crossed paths in undergraduate college, and what started as casual dating—since I wasn’t looking for anything serious—evolved into something much more enduring. He was a year ahead of me, and initially, I thought our paths would diverge once he graduated. Clearly, I was mistaken; here we are, seven years later, still going strong.
Our relationship has always been long-distance due to our differing job locations and career paths. Over the years, as we grew closer, the distance between us felt increasingly challenging. Despite the geographical gaps and distinct career trajectories, the thought of not being together seemed far worse than any professional sacrifice we might have to make. There were times when the strain of our circumstances made us consider parting ways, but our comfort and sense of belonging with each other always pulled us back.
We've made conscious choices not to give up on each other or our dreams. Instead, we’ve been navigating ways to balance our relationship with our professional aspirations. It's been a journey of compromises and sacrifices, but these efforts have their rewards, enriching our lives together. Sudhir and I continue to work on our relationship, and we still are figuring out a lot of things.
It's not just romantic relationships that are important, we keep striving to maintain healthy relations with our friends and family. There are people I know who have chosen one over the other, some are very happy with that decision, and some are struggling with it. As they say, everyone is different and one rule doesn't work for all. LDR might have worked out for us but it may not work out for someone else. Each one of us has a different journey, we shouldn't compare it with others but definitely we can observe and learn from others. What is most important is clarity of thought, the more clearer you are, the more content you will be. If you know your goals, and your priorities, the work that goes behind achieving will not feel so tiresome. Hence, I believe that if you are struggling at any moment, take pause and figure out what is that you want, make small goals, and remember that goals keep evolving, what you dreamt as a 13-year-old kid might or might not stay as a dream now.
It might sound like so much work, and a lot of struggle, after all, this is what makes life interesting—without challenges, the achievements wouldn't be as sweet. it wouldn’t be fun at all if everything came so easily.