Success. True success for me is measured by one’s ability to keep showing up. That no matter how far we may stray from what really is ours, and ours alone, to do, we trust that our Soul will guide us back. Success is in knowing that the detours off the path were part of the path Success is in learning to hear the whispers before they become shouts. Success is in daring to be an individual in a world that tries to create unity through uniformity. Success is walking as a two legged with your heart exposed to the world. Your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.
Success is juggling life's demands and keeping your inner peace-filled core;
Success is touching one person's life with kindness'
Success is crying when your heart is touched and when you are filled with awe at nature's beauty.
And in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.
If at first you don’t succeed,
Don’t try again…
At least not yet.
Smell the breeze,
walk your dog
Smile at someone
for no reason
Breathe in and out
while paying attention
To that breath,
and then the next one.
Dance, sing, shout,
Do the dishes
Plant some tomatoes
Play catch with somebody.
If you still think that was really
Success you were after,
I mean really,
Well then, go ahead, try again ,
If you must.
Success
Success is
Success is not
Success is not what
Success is not what society
Success is not what society says
Success is not what society says it
Success is not what society says it is.
Success is love.
Success is rest.
Success is breath.
Success is
Success
Do more.
Be more.
Make more.
Success as value, measurable
Recognizable (we hope)
Yet elusive
Never enough-ness
Driven to prove worthiness
We strive
Fearful emptiness lurks
God please help
Redefine redirect
To places of peace
Loved before the doing
Just in being
Giving helping kindnesses
Simple life
Breathing receiving
Content.
Success. True success for me is measured by one’s ability to keep showing up. That no matter how far we may stray from what really is ours, and ours alone, to do, we trust that our Soul will guide us back. Success is in knowing that the detours off the path were part of the path Success is in learning to hear the whispers before they become shouts. Success is in daring to be an individual in a world that tries to create unity through uniformity. Success is walking as a two legged with your heart exposed to the world. Your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.
Sunday sermon is prepared
Dishes are done
Laundry is folded
Dog is napping
Fireplace flame is dancing
Coffee is sweet
Music is soothing
Eyelids close
Today, this is my success
(I love this idea! Really looking forward to doing this every day. Here’s my poem for the day)
Success
is the art of going from one
spring flower to the other
without a loss of enthusiasm.
Success
is climbing to the top of the ladder
to pick cherry blossoms for your table.
Success
is learning who you are
in the grand web of life
and learning to rest there,
at peace with all your succession
in the dance of things.
Where I am…
Where I thought I’d be…
Guilt?
Shame?
Have I made my ancestors proud?
{God or Myself?}
The quantification of success is difficult.
The Truth? I want more.
More:
==> spirituality
==> relationship
==> identity
==> belonging
==> experience
At what point is it enough?
{I have a great life.}
When did it feel so tough?
We are so afraid of failure
That we fail to see
How every success
Is a failure at something else
When the world is in chaos
When we feel we're falling further into the abyss
What is success - failing better as they say?
What does that even mean?
As the night brings
Restlessness
Doubt
Prayers of groaning
Success in that time is
Surviving the night
Seeing the pinkish orange sky at sunrise
Releasing the pain of the night
Welcoming the breath of
Another day
Grace on the horizon
A few moments of peace
A sense of hope
Success
Success is juggling life's demands and keeping your inner peace-filled core;
Success is touching one person's life with kindness'
Success is crying when your heart is touched and when you are filled with awe at nature's beauty.
And in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.
Success
Is not in a relationship
Is not in having children
Is not in a fancy car
Is not in a tax return income box
Is not in home ownership
Is not in a number on a scale
Success is
Being okay without having achieved any of these things
And still
Loving your life
Success.
Elusive.
A goal post always moving.
Matrixes, standards
Always just beyond my reach.
But sometimes
it is standing
on a porch
as the sun sets,
the enchanting hour
making the hills dance.
New life budding.
The freshly mown lawn’s scent
tantalizing.
Sometimes
it is a student who
sends a meme,
an adult child
who shares a heart,
a moment of coffee
shared with your spouse.
There is no matrix.
Just a moment
of fleeting love
that says,
“This life matters.”
Success
There is a pea plant watching from her second window
with pods emerging out of miniscule flowers,
flat and green, waiting for the plump of beans.
I hear my daughter sometimes when I walk by
to say goodnight, almost interrupting her own goodnights,
affectionate congratulations to this dear plant,
her pride and joy in an orange pot.
Here is a go at it:
Success
Not what I think it is
Not what the world told me it was
Success
Authentic living
Playing with Leo
Being present
Eating with the family
Is loving God
Is loving Mother Earth
Is loving myself
Is taking care of each other
Is missing my mom and letting myself cry
There is failure and success together, and it’s good
SUCCESS
by inch
= 💰
= sex😳
= fame😎
by heart
= ✌
Thank you so much for this challenge, Kaitlin! I am very much looking forward to it. Here is my poem.
Stripped away and watered down
What is success?
Not what you’ve been taught about it
but the essence of you?
What if success isn’t what we achieve
but what we release?
Can we release the word without releasing ourselves?
What is in us that is worthy of the success of loosening?
Everything.
Breathing is success. Existing is success. Love is success.
There are no success stories- simply human beings.
Breathing.