Taking care of child, or earning an income || Acharya Prashant, on single parenting (2017)

Questioner (Q): I am a single parent in a difficult situation. I have a four-year-old kid with me but I have no source of income. I have to look after my child and find a source of income also. I am unable to understand how to manage both.

Acharya Prashant (AP): First of all, being a single parent is great, at least for the child. Instead of two to pester him, there is only one. I am mentioning this because yesterday as well you talked of that fact as if it is a bit of a handicap. It is not.

Socially we have been trained to visualize the happy family as a kid with his two arms being held by two people of opposite gender. That’s really not needed. The kid is already being held in the palm of his real Father. The real Father is not even holding his arm—He is holding the kid in His palm. So, if you are a single mother, great!

Now, the question of the kid being four years old and you needing to earn. He is four; the troublesome period is behind you. Had he been one or two, then the situation would have necessitated your constant physical presence near the kid. He is four years old now. You can have periods in the day when he can be left with the relatives, with his grandparents, or even in daycare. So, get going with all sureness; figure out a means of livelihood. And don’t look at your situation as if you are in a bind. Never ever think of yourself as if you lack in fortune.

You see, look at the animal world. How long does a cub stay with the lioness? For how long? For how long does the calf stay with the cow? Please.