Stop Chasing Perfection: Serena Williams’ Beautiful Letter To All Moms

Serena Williams is a role model for all mothers. The way she has managed her career along with motherhood is an inspiration for millions around the world.

And, on this Women’s Day, she gave an important reminder to all mothers.

She penned down a beautiful essay, where she talked about how perfection is an impossible goal when it comes to balancing work and family.

The tennis superstar wrote,

“I want to make it clear that perfection is an impossible goal and should never be a true pursuit in life”

All working mothers in today’s world face the challenge of balancing their career and family responsibilities. Most of the times we see ourselves struggling and undergoing multiple levels of guilt of not performing well on either front.

Williams is no different and faces a lot of struggle juggling her duties as a new mother and her commitment to tennis.

After giving birth to her daughter Olympia in 2017, Williams wrote, it was really hard leaving her and going back to work.

“She is my absolute priority ― spending as much time as possible with her every day is so important to me. But I’m still training to win Grand Slams and sometimes I have to make hard choices about how I spend my time.”

She added,

“I’ve cried over Olympia so many times that I’ve lost count. I cried when I stopped breastfeeding. I sat with Olympia in my arms, I talked to her, we prayed about it, and I told her, ‘Mommy has to do this.’ I cried when I missed Olympia’s first steps because I was in training.”

Through this essay, Williams wants to encourage women to come in support of each other in overcoming such challenges.

Serena writes

“While I think all women are superheroes, we are not superhuman and we need each other’s support. We need to give each other grace when we fall short—and when society sets unrealistic expectations or our workplaces have antiquated rules. We must band together and fight for what’s fair.”

She finished the piece with a call to action.

“On International Women’s Day, let’s promise to come together and support one another in honor of all the groundbreaking women who came before us—and those who are proudly following our lead. We must band together and fight for what’s fair”

Read the full essay by Serena Williams on Forbes.

At IForHer, we stand in support of all mothers who are overcoming tough challenges to be a Star Performer at Work, and an Awesome Mom at Home.

There are multiple ways in which moms can learn to handle the stress that comes with the jugglery. One such method is Mindfulness. Read our wellness expert, Tanvi Chaturvedi, talk about how mindfulness can help moms.