The Daily Dad

It’s a Long Run We’ve Signed Up For

Jan 19, 2024

02:33

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Balancing career and family can be challenging. It's important to prioritize relationships with children and make choices that benefit both parents and kids in the long run.

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Quick takeaways

Being a parent is like running a marathon, where the choices made now impact future outcomes.

Pacing oneself, making wise choices, and preparing for the challenges that lie ahead are crucial for successful parenting.

Deep dives

The Importance of Seeing Parenting as a Marathon

Parenting is a long-term commitment that requires perspective and endurance. In the podcast episode, it is emphasized that being a parent is like running a marathon, where the choices made now impact future outcomes. It is acknowledged that the responsibilities of the present can make it difficult to think about the future, but it is crucial for parents to remember that this is a long race they have signed up for. The episode gives examples of individuals who have neglected their families or sacrificed their well-being for short-term gains, highlighting the importance of pacing oneself, making wise choices, and preparing for the challenges that lie ahead.

The Long Run of Parenting

3min

The career opportunities are hard to turn down. It’s hard in the moment, as we’ve talked about, to be able to think too far into the future. It’s hard to make much in the way of long term investments as a parent because you’re so overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the present.

But we have to remember what we’re after, we have to keep in perspective that this is a marathon we’ve signed up for. We quoted the baseball player Anthony Rendon recently about how he was having to weigh painful but career-elongating surgeries and the grind of continuing to play against the kind of shape he wants to be in as his kids get older and the kind of relationship he can have with them. “Right now, it looks like we are only playing for these next four years of baseball,” Rendon said, “but I’m trying to hang out with my kids for the rest of their lives.”

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