Do I Stay or Do I Leap? Balancing Stability and Dreams in Motherhood

Lately, I’ve been replaying the same question in my head over and over: Do I stay in the job that feels safe, or do I take a leap and trust myself with something new?

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Before becoming a mom, I probably would’ve leaned into the leap. I’ve made plenty of spontaneous decisions in my life. Some good, some questionable; but now, things are different. It’s not just about me anymore. Every decision I make has a ripple effect on my family, and that’s a weight I feel every single day.

I think that is a weight many parents feel whether you are a mom or dad. The weight of knowing that you cannot just change your mind or pivot your entire career. It needs to be more logic and thought through than ever before.

Stability can be viewed as the luggage that you cannot let go and must adapt it for carry on size. A steady paycheck, benefits, predictable hours—these aren’t just nice-to-haves, they’re survival tools. They keep the lights on, the fridge full, and the roof over our heads. The schedule that your family operates around, especially when you have children that are back in school.

You have to make sure someone is able to drop them off and pick them up especially when we are thinking about littles. The positive at the moment is there is comfort in knowing that I can support the people I love, even when I am not fully fulfilled right now.

The other side though, that continuously screams at me as loud as my toddler is the feeling of that pull. The pull to do more!

Career growth. Higher pay. New opportunities. Alignment with who I want to become.

Who I am aiming to become. Staying still feels safe, but it also feels like settling at times. A voice inside me whispering: Don’t play small. Trust yourself.

That’s the tension right there: protect the stability of my family or/and wanting to believe in my own potential. Some days, I wonder if staying means I’m choosing security over growth. Other days, I wonder if leaving means I’d be selfish for putting my ambitions ahead of the safety net we’ve built.

Motherhood changes the way career choices feel. It’s not just about chasing a dream anymore. I think often about the kind of example I want to set for my daughter. Do I want her to see me stay in something safe but unfulfilling, or do I want her to see me take risks and bet on myself? The truth is, I want her to see both—the importance of stability and the courage of self-trust.

The hard part is that there isn’t a perfect answer. There’s no roadmap that says, “Here’s the correct choice.” All I can do is trust that, whatever choice I make, I’ll figure it out. Because that’s what moms do—we figure it out, again and again.

Maybe the real decision isn’t between stability and risk at all. Maybe it’s between silencing myself or believing that, no matter which path I choose, I’ll find a way to make it work for me and my family.