Tag Archives: success

Learning from Ancient Wisdom

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Buddha said it best – “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful”.

Truer words could not have been spoken. How can we expect success if we cannot find joy in what we are doing? Whether it be our career or our personal lives, for us to be truly successful in any relationship we must be authentically satisfied with the path we have chosen. We must relish every part of our contentment and let that euphoria help pave the path of our success.

We will never attain great success if we cannot first achieve that absolute feeling of satisfaction that comes with doing something we love to do. So many go through the motions of a daily routine just to get to the end of their day. It is the few and far between that thrive in their lives because they truly love where they are and what they are doing.

I feel that success on many levels. I am, maybe for the first time in a long time, truly happy with my life. I am independent, I am good at my job and love being there and I have many family and friends that are there to remind me of my happiness if I temporarily falter from my bliss. Sure there are many days that do not go as well as intended, but at the end of those days I am still able to see beyond the lower points and know that tomorrow holds the hope of being better.

I sincerely love what I do. My job allows me the opportunity to meet many new people and I crave those relationships. And my writing affords me the freedom to express myself in ways that I cannot during my work day. I have the best of both of my worlds.

My genuine happiness is composed of all of the aspects of my life. And my true success is the fact that I can embrace that happiness and excel at what I do. Regardless of others opinions of my achievements, my happiness remains intact and my prosperity breathes new life every day.

Find your happiness. Within that feeling of contentment lies the path to your true success.

Impossible is two letters too long

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I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge.   I have lived under the premise that if it’s worth having, it’s worth fighting for, and that has served me well.  Like removing the word “can’t” from my vocabulary, I also try never to utter the word “impossible”.

When my dad was still with us, not a day went by that he didn’t mention the phrase – where there’s a will, there’s a way – and I adopted that idiom rather quickly.  I learned my survival skills and my desire to succeed by heeding the wisdom of that small string of words.  By keeping that will fed and nourished, the two letters that may have impeded the possible slowly fall into the alphabet once again and all things are attainable.

alphabet

(image credit: 123freevectors.com)

When I begin any new task, the thought never crosses my mind that I will fail at that particular undertaking.  The final product may not be the desired result, but a reasonable facsimile is still an encouraging beginning.  I dive headfirst into the endeavor and face the dragon head on because the reward comes from trying.  Failure can only come from not attempting the initial project.

All things are possible and the only time I will use the letters “I” and “M” are to say I’m going to try my best!

Those elusive birds

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The Daily Prompt today truly got me thinking….and on a Monday that is slightly painful.  The challenge today is this – Clichés become clichés for a reason. Tell us about the last time a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush for you.

bird in the hand

(image courtesy of Google)

This may be a reverse approach to this challenge, but this is where my brain took my words.

Truly appreciating what you have without looking at what better things may come along may be easier said than done.  There is always the outward pressure of ‘what if’ that will make us ponder the value of what we have now versus the value of what may lay beyond.

We take the risk of upsetting the balance in our lives, that sure thing, to forage the unknown.  And perhaps the excitement of the mysterious is part of the allure.  Perhaps the elusive birds in the bush hold the key to something we have not been able to realize with the bird in hand.

It’s lofty to dream, but as long as we don’t let greed cloud our vision, each of us will always have that feeling of wanderlust.  It’s how we choose to act on that feeling that is important, and so far, I have never let that voracity interrupt the path that I have chosen.

Take a walk in my shoes

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Judge me not by what you see of my first appearance.  Do not drink in the sight of me without first appreciating the ingredients that were combined to create the final product.  Although by outward appearance you think you may know me, know what I’m made of, but the recipe for this product is the result of a myriad of ingredients.

Before you judge me, put on my shoes and walk through my past.  See what it is that has shaped me and made me the person I am today.  Wear those shoes and glimpse into the experiences that have carved out the life I have led.  Hold fast in those shoes while the toes point precariously over dark chasms and walk freely in them as they guide you out of harms way.

old-running-shoes

Skip happily through my successes, but always be prepared at a moment’s notice to plant those shoes firmly in defiance of those who wished to take advantage.  There is knowledge and power in those shoes.  They hold the key to my existence.  They have led me to triumph and helped me run from despair.

So before you make up your mind about me, take a walk in my shoes.  Watch my journey unfold, and only after you have glimpsed the many facets of reality that have made up my life, only then may you cast your judgement.

What word defines you?

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Tenacious is a word that I have come to love.  It sums up so much of my personality and my desire to succeed.   It gives me an excuse to fall back on when I seem like that proverbial bull in a china shop.  But when you know what you want, why should you not use everything in your arsenal to get it?

Words continue to fuel my fire and the roaring blaze is only intensified by my yearning.  I want to write.  I want more than anything to support my lifestyle by putting my thoughts and images into words, and I want people to get lost in the spectral portraits that I create with language. That tenacity is what keeps me going.  My stubborn refusal to accept my current station in life is evident by the passion I seek to create in the many fables I wish to share.

words

There are many adjectives to choose from when someone asks you to define yourself.   Honest, trustworthy and loyal are among the top words that people will use to exemplify the traits they find most honorable in themselves.  I embody all of those things, but my tenacity is what sets me apart from those benign words.  My ferrous belief that my writing will allow me to have a career by incessantly tapping at this keyboard is the light that beckons me through these dark nights.  It dangles that rabbit that I continue to chase in circles around that unending track.  It gives me hope that my dreams may come to fruition.

Some say words are only words. But words are unique.  Each word that is chosen in a story is selected because of the way it truly reflects the emotion and meaning of the sentence in which it is written.  And just perhaps, those words will lead me through the current reality of my days and into a world I had only once dreamed of – a world in which I was not just a fairy tale character, but the writer of that story.

Tenacious = determined, obstinate, persistent.  Tenacious is the word that defines me.

If you had to choose only one word to describe yourself, what would it be?

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.

Success

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Working in a team environment every day makes you realize that you are only as good as the team you have behind you.  Being in a leadership role, no matter how confident you are, will only take you so far without acknowledging the many people who follow your lead and give their all for that team.

I am fortunate to work with a great group of people.  Their true dedication to performing their jobs to the best of their ability makes my job that much easier.  Sure, we all have days that we would prefer to be anywhere else, but the struggles we face, we face together.  And that common bond makes us that much stronger of a team.

We face the hardships together, we jump in where we are needed and we all seem to strive for the same goal.  Those things alone would be enough of a recipe for success, but we are fortunate to enjoy a sense of camaraderie along the way and intersperse our day with laughter and a true sense of friendship.  Some days are more of a struggle than others to keep our heads above water and come out at the end of the day with a smile on our faces, but somehow we bounce back.

I salute my team members with this post – each and every one of them.   Your true dedication to a crazy five month season is something to be admired and you make it easy for me to come to work every day.

I hope that everyone reading this takes the time to thank the people who contribute to the success of their daily life, whether it be co-workers, friends or family.  A team is  team, regardless of its definition.  Take the time to thank the people who live, support or work with you and make sure that their efforts do not go unrecognised.   It is the combination of the team effort that ensures the height of the level of success.

To my family, my friends and my co-workers, my success is our success.  We would not be where we are without the support of each other.  I will end this post with nothing more than a giant – thank you!!