I was in London and St. Albans today, looking around at couples with and without children. I thought about the time my wife and I had together before the kids came along, and about the career thinking I’ve done before and since.
You hear a lot of people say that when you have kids, they become the most important thing in your life, and I think that’s mostly true. But as well as shortening your perspective – down from career and social life towards kids and family life – they also extend your perspective immensely. So I’ve found myself much more drawn towards projects to make a difference to the world than before kids came along – partly perhaps because I’m getting older and more thoughtful, but also because I want to make a better world for my two, and everyone else’s.