This infographic popped up on my Reader this morning and I found it good food for thought.
I know that Americans love their statistics and depending on how the numbers are crunched, numbers can be made to look a certain way. But the implications are still very real and highlights the importance of having a father functioning in a family.
At the same time, there are many situations where the father is the main breadwinner and has to spend a considerable amount of their waking hours chasing for the income which will put food on the table, a roof over their heads, and to put them through education. So it's unrealistic that he gets to spend a lot of time with his family.
I guess the real question is how much is enough? I know many fathers who start out with the right intentions but when they 'make it', they just keep chasing for more even though they have more than enough; they have defined themselves by their career success and taking any of that away strips them of their manhood and dignity.
To be honest, at some point, I believe that fathers need to be defined beyond the scope of 'the provider' and be an anchor in the family not only for financial stability but for all other aspects as well. It's not easy to make that transition if you've reached the point where you are already at the point where you've done an incredible job as provider and the family is living a lifestyle which hardly anyone else enjoys.
This is because it's easy to fall back into the comfort of the role you know you can do superbly well and also convince yourself that to reduce your focus on breadwinning may jeapordise the family's current lifestyle. But isn't having more than enough supposed to create a situation where you can truly enjoy being with your family without having to 'chase' for their necessities?
The right balance must be found for what constitutes quality of life.
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