Category Archives: success

Time to digest the past and ingest the future

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The tryptophan is still fresh in my blood stream and thankfully the swelling in my stomach is slowly abating.  With another Christmas celebration successfully under my loosened belt, it’s time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the imminent beginning of a new year.

calendar

This past calendar year was filled with many hurdles.  Within running that footrace and jumping those hurdles, I discovered a well of strength I didn’t know I possessed.  That yet untapped reserve was a shimmering pool of hope and that cleansing water, along with the support of family and friends, helped me find a long-awaited feeling of inner peace.  I was given a promotion at work, enjoyed the many changes in my physical appearance, gained a new self-confidence and found a true sense of freedom after closing the door on an unhealthy marriage.

Within those defining moments, I found myself again.  I rediscovered the happiness that had been suppressed and I delighted in its giddiness as it bubbled back to the surface.  The smile on my face became genuine and no longer felt like a mask.  I began writing this blog and my inner voice had finally found the tool in which to extricate itself from my brain.  I began truly living and not just going through the motions.

Adversity is a learning tool, and I chose to attend every class to absorb each lesson that was taught.  I learned a great deal last year in the school of life and I look forward to carrying that knowledge into the beginning of a new year and another fresh start.

I tend not to make New Year’s resolutions.  I don’t want to limit myself to focusing on a few things, but would rather deal with each day as it presents itself and deal with those days in the most positive way I can.  With the impending arrival of that new calendar year, I am eagerly anticipating a fresh start.  I look forward to caring for old friendships and strengthening new relationships that were developed.  I look forward to continuing to do a job I love and I look forward to listening to the persistent writer’s voice that wakes me from my sleep.

Come on 2013 – I’m ready for you!!

Do you prefer worm or cheese?

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We’ve all heard the expression “The early bird always gets the worm”,  but if we put that thought into a much different perspective, it’s the second mouse that usually gets the cheese.

mousetrap

Being successful is not all about winning and being first at everything.  Success may be born from patience as much as it is from tenacity.  Even the bible tells us that there is a time to every purpose under the Heaven.  (Having not studied the bible, and admittedly taken this line from the movie Footloose, it still holds as much meaning regardless of my source of third-party information.  Don’t judge me!!)  Success should come from just being in the race and not the place in which you cross the finish line.

Accomplishment comes to those who prepare well and put in the effort.  But the benefit of that accomplishment is not defined by the place in which you finish.  The fruition of your efforts should be marked by the honesty, integrity and perseverance you put forth while striving to procure that triumph.  Seeing a goal through to the end should be the greatest achievement.

In some respects, coming in anything other than first may teach us a lot more about ourselves and how we are able to see the race through to its finish line, regardless of what place we cross that line.  We gain a great deal of insight into who we really are and how we handle the fact that we are just shy of first place.  That second place finish, or any other place for that matter, may be just the accolade that we were seeking to make us realize our potential, and will only fuel our attempt to get closer to being that early bird next time.

If you come up short of your original goal and you miss the worm, look for the cheese.  There is still greatness in every place that you finish, because the reward lies in finishing.  If you get the worm, great, but if you fall short of savoring that burrowing invertebrate,  relish in the delight of the cheese.  The reward you get by being that second mouse may be much tastier than the being the early bird that has to choke down that pungent worm.