The opportunity of being selfish

I saw this from someone's blog. That's a reason why I dont own Gucci. Have fun reading!

I'm waiting for the movers to come and pack my stuff, and on tv, there's this chat show discussing Australia's current low birth rates and why people are putting off having babies. The audience who join the discussion are made up of a mix of professionals (demographers, fertility experts, activists etc.) and the average persons. One after another they cited their reasons for not having babies. Mostly it is about that checklist of personal accomplishments and things to do which people want for themselves. Finances, resources and all that lot are secondary to 'what I want for myself first'. One woman cited her hatred for children. Several experts pointed out that the developed world has moved away from a family-oriented focus to a individualistic, materialistic one. One of them spoke of how in 'the good old days' popular tv shows were the likes of The Brady Bunch and later The Cosby Show, whereas in these modern times, it's Friends, Sex and the City, and Will and Grace. The two he could think of that had 'families' were Desperate Housewives and Everybody Loves Raymond, but how many people can actually remember the children's names from these series? On the other hand, I still remember Rudy, Theo, Denise, Vanessa and Sandra Huxtable.
Over and over again, the audience in this talk show admitted to being selfish when it comes to what they want in life. They are living the good life, why mess it up with children?
Then, one young lady who is a mother of three at the age of 24, was asked her point of view. She was not a professional, she told her story about having a young mother and loving the idea of being one herself and has no regrets. She said that now that she has had her three children, she is now juggling some goals for herself - a part-time job and full-time schooling. What she said next made me respect her so much, mostly because she stood up and spoke out to the many high-flying career people around her. She said, because she had her children so young, she was never at a living standard that was so high that she had to 'come down to' a level where it feels like a sacrifice. She said, (and I love this), I never had the opportunity to be selfish. What I love more was how she said that with confidence, and how as the audience applauded her, her husband's arm came up around her offering support and a show of pride.