[pieceofthepuzzle]

If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten married earlier, and started having children earlier. I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of experiences in my life so far, and have seen lots of different parts of the world, but none of that has any meaning when compared to having a child and a family. Nothing. I started relatively late. It’s so ironic that the result of ‘higher education’ is often to get so wrapped up in career and whatever ‘success’ is that you put off or never do what’s really meaningful in life.

[Smokin' Joe]

Agreed, that raising children is the paramount reason for our existence. There is a trade-off between affording it and doing it somewhere.

It is unfortunate that the present generation is either making babies and living off the dole or struggling to make enough to support a family or afford one. That is the most insidious effect of the current economic situation, and unfortunately, it is disproportionately affecting the more productive demographics, or at least those which would be in better economic circumstance.

[American Guesser]

If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten married earlier, and started having children earlier. I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of experiences in my life so far, and have seen lots of different parts of the world, but none of that has any meaning when compared to having a child and a family. Nothing. I started relatively late. It’s so ironic that the result of ‘higher education’ is often to get so wrapped up in career and whatever ‘success’ is that you put off or never do what’s really meaningful in life.

I feel the same way, and I hope some of the young people reading your post will be influenced by it.

[ctdonath2]

Ditto.

Society created an environment of “don’t rush it, all in good time” - without noting that the clock is, indeed, ticking. And the clock isn’t a stopwatch, it’s a timer with an unknown setting.

[hinckley buzzard]

I quite agree. Having a family and raising children is part of the universal human experience, and the highest calling. In comparison, a career is in the end just waiting around; self-centered pursuits like travel, an excess of toys, and other self-gratifications just don't measure up.