NormsMilfordBlog

Today’s graphic contains a powerful message about life and success…

Now, I’m sure that most readers would probably take the immediate leap into thinking about the word success in material terms – money or promotions or achievement of some goal. That is not the point of the saying in the picture, at least not as I see it.

I believe that we are successful when we are at peace with ourselves. That peace may come from having done (or having tried to do) the right things. Our peace may come from being happy with who and what we are. Our peace may come from being satisfied and thankful for what we have and not envious of what we don’t have.  Our peace most certainly comes from learning to love oneself and thus allowing us to love others.

Perhaps the cornerstone of being at peace with ourselves is being at peace with God. Every Sunday at church we “pass the peace”, which  is a way to share what Jesus shared with us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

I also believe that one is successful when they have given birth, raised, and sent out into the world, the next generation. Our children are one big measure of our success. There is perhaps no greater responsibility given to us than to raise our children. There is a special happiness in seeing your children go off on their own and succeed, too.

I believe that we are successful when we help others. There is a very different and much more fulfilling feeling that one gets from having helped others. We do not get that same feeling when we have accomplished something just for ourselves.

Finally, I believe that we are successful when we are remembered by others not for what we owned or how much money we had, but what kind of a person we were. I suspect that among the words like kind and caring and gentle that people might use to describe a successful person will be the word happy.

So, be happy today and being successful will just follow along.