What are your thoughts?

Lots of feedback this week, and I loved Heather’s comment responding to the topic about women feeling guilty about putting themselves first – you can read her full comment in the blog comments below, but here’s a snippet:

“Since I turned 40 in March I have been feeling really weird and I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with me. I gave up my career 5 years ago to stay home with my 3 kids. I loved it, but I have come to realize over the last couple of months that I am ready to go back into the workforce. The weirdness I have been feeling is the guilt in wanting to do something for myself. I feel guilty that I want to go to work 9 to 5, when most people would make the comment “Oh, it must be fabulous to stay at home with your kids”. It has been fabulous, but after 5 years I am going to try and do something for myself for a change”

This notion of guilt resurfaced for me again as we launched the defineyourself.ca contest (have you signed up for it yet? Click here to take you to the sign up page) Those of us here at Swing were talking about what we would do if we entered a contest and won $250 cash, and my first instinct was to buy my daughter some new things, and my husband a new tennis racquet – didn’t even think about the new shoes I’ve been coveting and would kill for! I’m not saying I am a saint, but it just reinforced the comments we’ve been getting from so many of you that it is hard to train yourself to ever put yourself first!

The last two webisodes also discussed deliberations and procedures that some of the women were considering, and Darlene sent in a comment about having considered a tummy tuck (I don’t think the cute title truly represents the fact that a ‘tummy tuck’ is surgery! ) “I am 44, have two children and have been struggling with the idea of getting a tummy tuck. I have many fears about the process including recovery time and have been trying to weigh out whether wearing a two piece bathing suit in the summer is worth the potential agony. Is anyone else dealing with a similar dilemma? Am I the only one?”

As I’ve learned from the defineyourself ca women, the best advice is to make a consultation with a doctor – find out exactly what is involved and those fears will either be eliminated or exacerbated, and from there you can make a decision
Anyone been in Darlene’s shoes and had the same fears? What did you do about it? Let’s hear from you!