Is It Ever a Good Idea to Put Your Career on Hold for Love?

There comes a time in almost everyone's life when you have to make a choice between your career and your personal life. It's never easy -- there are pros and cons for each route, and sacrifices to be suffered and rewards to be reaped no matter which path is chosen. Adele recently told Vogue that she was planning on taking the next five years off to focus on her relationship, and while that may or may not actually be the case (phew!), it once again uncovers the age old puzzle that can never be perfectly solved: Is it ever a good idea to put your career on hold for love?

There's no right answer, which makes the question so much more frustrating than any other. On the one hand, your career is EVERYTHING. It gives you a sense of purpose, gives you a chance to solve problems, work as a team with others, and fulfill your basic human need to feel needed. Also, it pays the bills. On the other hand, your relationship is EVERYTHING. It makes you happier than any other thing on Earth, it offers you a sense of comfort, it allows you to love and be loved, and it fulfills your basic human need to feel needed. Also, there's the sex.

What to do? Who the eff knows. It's such a personal decision and one that will likely be agonized over for weeks, months, or years before any sort of trigger is pulled. Adele's situation is different -- she was allegedly quitting music so that she could become happy and produce more music -- but the concept is the same. Seems like no matter how rich you are, or how famous, or beautiful or poor or ugly, the choice is universally impossible to make.

The only thing you can hope for when you face this unanswerable conundrum is that you have a partner who understands what your career means to you, or that you have a manager who understands how important your relationship is to you. You're bound to let someone down when you choose sides, but as long as you don't let yourself down, you've made the right decision.

Do you think it's OK or not OK to put your career on hold for love?

Photo via cinnamongirl/Flickr