Is it possible to have it all? What is having it all?
The perfect job? The perfect family? The perfect life?

Well, if you know as I know, there is no such thing as the perfect anything.  Everything we do has its plusses and minuses.  Everything has a pro and a con.  Life is a series of sacrifices and compromises.  So in trying to have it all, one must realistically consider, is it really possible? Before we do that, let us consider this.  Some of us do not WANT to have it all.  We are forced by circumstances and life choices that we have made or others have made to DO it all. So we don’t even have the luxury of considering whether or not we want it all.  We’ve GOT it all and now we’re trying to figure out what to do with it.

That makes the real question – How do you have it all without sacrificing everything?

Let’s face it.  Being a parent is stressful, no matter the circumstances.  Single parents face an increased amount of stress as they bear the responsibility of parenting alone.  Single parents under stress are not likely to be the best parents to their children.  It is important for single parents to learn how to properly manage the stress they will face in order to be the best parents possible to their children.  Having It All is a life skills and stress management workshop for working single parents, single parent entrepreneurs, single parents working for the first time or those returning to the workplace after an extended absence.  The class is designed to equip working single parents with the tools necessary to reduce the stress of balancing home and work.  It provides them with ways to discover for themselves the best way to continue to be an effective parent while maintaining their status as an effective employee or entrepreneur.

Unmanaged stress often has a devastating effect on both mental and physical health.  Lack of sleep, depression, short temper, increased blood pressure and a host of other negative side effects can result from stress that has been allowed to increase unchecked.  Failing to balance work and single parenthood can result in one or more of these negative side effects.  Having It All focuses on assisting working single parents with the learning core concepts necessary for successful life balance.  It begins with a self evaluation where single parents define themselves, identifying the values that are important for them as parents, individuals and professionals. In this section, participants will discover how many roles they actually play in the course of a day.  By first recognizing the enormity of their obligations, participants will then be taught strategies to successfully handle them.   It follows with a segment on self acceptance that targets reconciling the expectations one has for self as a parent with those one has for self as an individual and a professional.  It focuses on prioritizing values and organizing time effectively. It also addresses the guilt most working parents feel.  By accepting their real situation instead of wishing for an ideal situation, participants will be better able to address the areas in their lives that they can change and accept those that they cannot.  Having It All closes with strategies on ways to incorporate newly identified priorities into a well balanced life for a working single parent.  After knowledge and acceptance comes the desire for change.  Participants will identify the areas that they can change and implement the strategies taught during the workshop to promote positive change in their lives.

The point of Having It All then is not to reduce or eliminate stress.  Balancing work, self and parenting is a natural part of life for the majority of single parents.  The point of Having It All is to teach single parents to successfully bring their all to all of their roles.