Many people worry so much about managing their careers, but rarely spend half that much energy managing their LIVES. I want to make my life, not just my job, the best it can be. The rest will work itself out.
Interpretation
Prioritizing life over career can lead to greater fulfillment and happiness.
This quote emphasizes the importance of balancing career ambitions with personal well-being. Reese Witherspoon suggests that while many individuals focus excessively on their professional lives, they often neglect to nurture their personal lives, which are equally, if not more, important for overall happiness and fulfillment. By stating her intention to make her life the best it can be, she conveys that a fulfilling life transcends mere job responsibilities and that good things will follow when one genuinely prioritizes personal growth and happiness.
In practice
In a motivational speech about work-life balance, one can use this quote to inspire the audience to prioritize their personal lives.
Somebody close to me once said, 'Oh, no man will ever accept your children.' And I just thought it was the most horrifying thing someone has ever said to me in my entire life. I was determined to find somebody who would make that not true.
Whether it was making my bed or making a movie, my mother and father never hesitated to say how proud they were of me, and that means so very much to a child.
I don't have a career, I have a life. I don't have an exterior judgment on what would be good or bad for me.
Life is crazy and meaningful at once.
I have sat with countless patients and families to discuss grim prognoses: It's one of the most important jobs physicians have. It's easier when the patient is 94, in the last stages of dementia, and has a severe brain bleed. For young people like me - I am 36 - given a diagnosis of cancer, there aren't many words.
No memory of having starred atones for later disregard, or keeps the end from being hard.
For the rest of my life there are two days that will never again trouble me. The first day is yesterday with all its blunders and tears, follies and defeats. Yesterday has passed away, beyond my control forever. The other day is tomorrow with all its pitfalls and threats, its dangers and mystery. Until the sun rises again I have no stake in tomorrow, for it is still unborn.
I want to go everywhere, look at and listen to everything. You can go crazy with some of the wonderful stuff there is in life.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.