Linsey Addario went through a lot of conflict in her life but the one that seemed most human to me was her conflict with herself on what her future with kids should be. On the very last page of part one, Addario settles this conflict with a solution that is good for everyone deciding how long she would be on birth control and when she would get pregnant. She was also juggling this with her ever complicated and busy professional career. I have never had a conflict this extreme yet in my life, but in my passion blogs I can connect her struggles to the topics I write about.
Sports and The Theater are filled with conflict. Every game is a conflict and every play has a conflict. It’s what makes these things go. Yet inside of these two institutions there are people who fight their own battles everyday and especially people who fight between their personal lives and their careers. NFL players have been retiring at record numbers and extraordinarily young because of the health risks of football. They are balancing the medical risks of their professions with the quality of life they will live and it is very hard for them to make these decisions. Athletes in other sports also have to decide when enough injuries are enough and it is time to walk away. Players like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson literally played until their health degenerated to the point they couldn’t take the court anymore. Female Athletes have to make decisions like Addario because getting pregnant means time away form whatever their respective sport may be.
In Theater Actors and Actresses walk away when they believe they aren’t spending enough time with their family or when acting takes too much of a mental toll on their health. Actresses also have to make the tough choice when it comes to family as they lose time and money as well to start families. It is also tough to find jobs in the profession to begin with, so for many the conflict is when to give up on the dream to be in the theater and when they think that big break will finally come.
These kinds of conflicts are what make the people behind these great industries interesting and complex people. Behind the outright conflicts of Team Vs Team or inside of a show, there are people like You, Me and Addario. Struggling with the same dreams of starting a family, living healthy lifestyles and living their dreams, just like the rest of us.
I love your example from Addario’s book. It is always a question, from childhood to adulthood, how we should live our lives. Are we defined by family or jobs? It is easy to suggest that you can chose both, but can we? It seems that Addario, as well as you, are suggesting that compromise is key. In most factions of life this is inherently true. In relationships, communication and compromise improves the health of it. It is a shame that many people never fully accomplish their dreams because life isn’t cut and dry. Life is a roller coaster with ups and downs, and sometimes you get put with a stranger in the back car. Life is a series of events, and whether they be fortunate or unfortunate is, ultimately, up to you.