Why I'm okay with being looked down on

Greetings, friends of the blogosphere.

Recently I stumbled across this article. I'm not going to lie to you and say that it didn't bother me. It did bother me - in fact, I may or may not have been cursing the author in my mind while I was reading it. I thought to myself, I'm going to write the most kick-a** response and shove it down this lady's throat and make her wish she'd never written that stupid POS article in the first place! I thought about things a little bit more, though, and realized how pointless that would be. I realized one very important thing, and that is this:

I am okay with being looked down on. 

I could turn this blog post into a list of all of my accomplishments in the effort to prove the author of that article wrong. I could show her that it is, indeed, possible to have traveled the world and been successful as a young woman with a husband and child(ren). There are countless examples that I could give of other young wives and mothers who are far more well-traveled and successful than myself. Bringing up examples, retorts, and arguments would not, however, change this woman's mind (or the mind of anyone else who may think like her).

You see, it all comes down to one thing, and that one thing is quite simple, really. It comes down to happiness. I am happy being a wife and mother at age 25. I am happy because every morning, I wake up next to my best friend in the entire world. Every morning I go into my little girl's room and my heart melts as she smiles at me and reaches for me. No amount of success in the corporate world, no exotic vacation, no amount of fame and fortune could ever make me happier than I am as a wife and mother. You know why? Because my family brings me joy. Being their rock brings me joy. Sure, an all-expenses-paid vacation around the world would be freaking. awesome. BUT. It would be lonely. You want to know where I would be if I was not married with a baby?

I would have a successful career, one in which I would do quite a bit of travelling and probably make a decent amount of money. I would have money to spend frivolously, because I would only be worried about myself.

I would be lonely. I would be sad. I might feel a little empty. 

But that's ME. I am different from you. And you. And you.

I think that the main thing that bothers me so much is that, as women, we seem to be so divided. We can't just appreciate the fact that every woman chooses to embrace her femininity and womanhood differently. ALL women are strong, whether they decide to travel the world and have a career or stay at home and raise their children. ALL women have purpose, whether they're the CEO of a fortune 500 company or they spend their days running after kids. This whole "war" between women has got to stop. It really makes me mad that we can't see the value in other people's choices (and that we feel that it's okay to judge people based on their decisions). 

We all have our own paths. Some of us get married and start our families in our 20's. Some of us wait until our 30's or 40's. Some of us choose not to have children. Some of us can't have children. Some of us don't want to get married. Some of us will never find the right person.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those paths. Not one is better or worse than the other. They are just different. So let's stop judging one another, let's stop looking down on each other. Instead, let's try to support and love one another and find joy in the fact that each of us chooses to embrace our womanhood in different ways.