finding balance

laughing woman told me that i will always struggle to decide between my instinct to being a mother and all the energy i have to be out in the world doing and having a career. they are similar in a lot of ways. . . i create, i guide, i lead, i make decisions, i organize, i plan - but one is very personal and the other quite externalized.
i feel this everyday - my son is beautiful, i love him very much. i have found a way to be with him and love the time we spend together. but all the rest of my energy goes into the things i do out in the world.
sometimes i wonder if the two things are at odds with each other. by being a mother i have learned patience. i have learned how to say the same things again and again, in different ways, until i am heard. these are things that serve me in my life when i am not parenting.
i think what i take away from her comments would be this - i create a separation between these two things. in the context of my life they become opposing forces. but there can be balance. my challenge is to find that - not to choose one or the other.