Work commitments override family time for many, while balancing and prioritizing one’s life allows others to find valued time for family. This is what Epoch Times reporters from Brazil to Slovakia found when they asked locals: “Do you feel you have enough time to spend with your family?”
Alina Chiper, 35, University Lecturer, Faculty of Physics
Definitely not enough time! It’s my job that does not allow me to choose if I want to spend more time with my family or not. Although I love my job, and I am very pleased with what I do, I would like to have more time to spend with my family and friends. My husband and I work in the same field: research, and I can say our work is rewarding, but all our time is absorbed by it. There are so many projects to deal with! … There is not much time left for anything else.
Sabrina Domiano Castro, 31, Training and Development Advisory
Today, I am pleased with the time I spend with my family, even though I have to work and study. A few years ago when I worked in a hotel, I had no time to stay with my family on weekends, holidays, and important occasions, and it made me very unhappy. I believe that to have a full life I need to have my personal, professional, and spiritual life in balance and now I can say that I have just that.
Tendai Mudimu, 31, Artist
No. Because I am an artist and I’m on the road all the time. Like now, I am on a tour for about one year so when I come back I will just spend one week with one family.
Paul Whittaker, 35, Lawyer
No, I don’t. My family is in Australia and I live and work in London. However, I find that when I do go home to visit, our time together is more meaningful.
Alena Štefanková, 55, Security Service
I have a son, and when he was a little boy, I was devoted maximally to him. Back then, I worked as a teacher, so I had a lot of free time and I gave him everything—we went to gardens; I read to him a lot and played various games with him. After the divorce, I also spent a lot of time with him until he was 14, and then he lost interest. Now I live alone without a family.
Serena Sauer, 28, Sales Assistant
Nowadays, it is difficult to have enough time to spend with children and family. On one side is guilty of work, on the other my husband and I have different hours, so it’s hard to stay together as it was usual for families in the past. We try as much as possible to find moments to be together longer with them [our children], but it’s no more as in the past.
Veena D Kalra, 38, Educator
Yes, we do. However, we may not have our priorities right, which may make us feel that we don’t have enough time. Admit it, when something really matters to you, you FIND time for it.
Ursi Michel, 53, Camp Site Owner
At the moment, I don’t have much time because I’m working very hard. It’s a short time, only four or five weeks and then I will have more time. [During busy summer season at the camp site.]
Christine Ross, 58, Policy Advisor
Yes, I do, because I work four days a week, which is brilliant. I work as a policy adviser in a trade union. We have very good and flexible employers. It’s really important that employers are flexible enough to enable the kind of working arrangements that allow people to spend time with families. I think a lot of employers particularly the bigger ones are really good at it. Public service is good and big employers like Telecom and the post office are good. Smaller businesses are less so.
Carmen Lleo, 76, Housewife
Well, because of my age, I belong to a generation where almost all the woman in Spain were housewives. For that reason, I must say that I had a lot of time to be with my family since they were in the heart and in everyday tasks, the center of my life. Now is different; since my health is not perfect, I don’t have the strength to be with my grandsons and granddaughters as much as I would like. And this is a pity, but I try to make the best use of that little time I can to be with them instead.
Look for the Global Q&A column every week. Epoch Times correspondents interview people around the world to learn about their lives and perspectives on local and global realities. Next week’s global question: “Do you have a habit that you would like to change?”
