Reply to Can You Live A FulFilled Life Without Kids?

Forum Index » Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)

Reply to "Can You Live A FulFilled Life Without Kids? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think I was *happier* before kids in that I was more well rested, I had more leisure time and freedom, I could make amazing fun plans without a care in the world.  I think I am more *fulfilled* after having kids because it has given my life an entire new meaning and purpose that I didn't really comprehend until I became a parent.  To a non parent I know that sounds cheesy and I would have rolled my eyes too, before becoming a parent myself.

I think that since having children is such a strong biological , innate drive for humans (it's literally how our species survives), it would be hard to  say you've experienced all life has to offer without experiencing this very basic human drive.  It would be like never having sex your whole life, or never leaving your hometown your whole life.  Yes, you could be incredibly happy and feel like your life was well lived, and that's all that really matters.  But it's because you had no sense of what else was out there that you'd never seen or felt. [/quote]

I disagree with this (and I have a kid).

There are people who go their whole lives without having sex or leaving their hometowns. But in abstaining from those things, they may experience something I never could. It's not what I would choose, but I'm not going to say that experience is "less than" because I really can't know. There are monks and nuns who abstain from sex to serve their religion, and I imagine they experience all kinds of things that I can't imagine and could be extremely fulfilling. A person who lived their entire life in one small town would have a depth of knowledge and experience about that place that I will never have about any place. Imagine living somewhere long enough to watch all the children become adults and grow old themselves. That would be something.

The truth is that every choice implies loss. In having kids, I lost the opportunity to experience a different kind of life. I'm happy with my choice but that doesn't mean my life is "more" this way. It's just different. I can never know what the alternative would have looked like, just like if OP chooses not to have kids, she will have to live with never knowing what her life with children might have been. There's no escaping that consequence of your choices, even when your choice is to NOT do something.[/quote]

Also have kids, and I completely agree.

I'm not Catholic, but know a nun who ran a Catholic orphanage. She raised dozens of kids, many of whom still consider her family, and I don't know how that can be anything but fulfilling.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics