When children come in the way of your purpose and business

“I want to work on my purpose and business but I have to take care of kids instead…”

This is a bit of a taboo, but surely, not an uncommon frustration, no matter how much you love your children. Some of my clients have mentioned it during our coaching sessions for sure (no taboos here!). And that was long before covid, lockdown and all that.

Of course, now, with the lockdown and children out of school many places, the challenge is bigger than ever.

What to do?

I don’t have children, and in this way I’m the last person to advise you in this matter. But perhaps we have some experiences and potential in common after all?

For many years, I worked in a kindergarten as a part-time substitute teacher. More often than not, just as I got ready to work in my business, do a particular piece of work, solve a particular problem … all my plans would be wiped out with a call: “We have two teachers sick today, we need your help, come right away”.

Often, as much as I loved working with children too, my first reaction would be disappointment. And then of course, I would surrender and go where I was needed.

And then, something interesting would happen. While I was in the kindergarten, ideas would pop up. Sometimes, these ideas provided unexpected solutions to my business problems. Sometimes, creative ideas for business content or development. I would make a quick note of each, and then go back to play/work with the children.

⭐Being present with, playing and working with children freed and inspired the creativity I also needed for my business. Plus, it taught me to focus and cherish the time I had for my business when I had it.

The thing to remember (and that we all tend to forget) is that, as Byron Katie says it, life happens for us, not to us. Life/Source/Soul/God/Universe/Higher Self gives us exactly the experiences we need. That is true when we are being interrupted in our plans too.

It doesn’t mean that it’s always easy. Surrendering to life’s agenda can feel like a hard pill to swallow. There’s no denying of it.

But even so, it does mean that whatever we experience, comes with a gift. Sometimes we will see it right away, other times later. But it’s always there.

What gifts are you finding when children or other obligations come in the way of your plans?