Achievements of Russian Women Abroad
WHAT IS TO ACHIEVE?
Lena believes that it is up to You...

What should we all achieve? What is important and what is not? Most of us were raised in the society where everything (including the role of a woman) was turned upside down. No choice was given: first, you go to school, then - you get a profession, after - you get a job, and on top of that you have to get married, to deliver children, to feed them, to keep your house clean and your husband happy! Everything was Your RESPONSIBILITY! There was NO other way. I remember the movie where one girl was ostracized just because she had admitted that all she wanted in life was "to get married and have children"... That is how it always worked in the Soviet Russia: first and the most important is that you are a Member of the Society and only after you are a Woman.

Having moved abroad, we have suddenly found ourselves in the situation, where there is a choice. That is what confuses us so much. It is very difficult - to understand that you can do whatever you want (to a certain extent, of course!), that there is no blueprint, no master plan you have to follow.

If you want to have six kids - go for it! Have all the kids you could possibly deliver and than raise! It is going to be YOUR achievement for which you should be praised, for which people will be proud for you. If you want to be a brain surgeon - become the one! You do that, and it’s going to be YOUR achievement. If you are happily married - it is also Your achievement! If not, then fixing this problem can become a challenge for You. If you have been struggling with past tense of English verbs for years, and finally, with blood seeping through your skin instead of sweat you pass your TOEFL test - that is YOUR achievement! You pass your driving test… You learn how to operate that machine that makes a beverage, which they call here "coffee"… The roses in your garden survived the winter… Your pot-roast did not burn… Instead of being miserable over the global problems of the mankind - achieve something every day and be proud of yourself.

We all are so-o different! There is NO way anybody can compile a list of rules to follow. Of course, together we can make some guidelines of what would be a good thing to do, but the final choice is yours. You set up your own goals, you build your own life from now on. Without looking over your shoulder, without listening to whispers in the dark. And don’t afraid to be proud of what you have achieved along the way. You have earned the right to be proud of your own achievements and content people are usually happy!