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Wordy Wednesday: Success

Welcome to Wordy Wednesday!
 
Today's subject is:
 
SUCCESS

By definition, success is:

a noun
1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.
2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3. a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors: The play was an instant success. (dictionary.com)

Quite honestly, that definition falls pretty short. I can agree with the technicality of the first definition, but as a whole it's certainly a far cry from the spirit of this concept. Is this how I would explain success to my children?

Never.

Because something as important as success should never be boiled down to a dictionary definition. It's not just a noun.

It's an attitude. And a viewpoint.

A motive, a memory, and a person. Or many people.

We can stop it, impede it, direct it, or, let it flow and carry us. Direct us.

We can choose it...or reject it.

Did you do your best? Success!

Did you love someone? Success!

Are you making a difference? Success!

Are you surviving? Thriving? Reaching out? Giving a witness? Sharing? 

SUCCESS!

And something I have learned over time is that the face of success isn't always what we expect. Sometimes, we have already achieved it by accepting the present, and being willing to work on the future.

Sometimes success is simply our baby, hugging us, with peanut butter hands tangled in our hair!

Yes, sometimes success smells a lot like peanut butter!



This song has been stuck in my head all week, and I really like both versions, but for different reasons. I couldn't decide, so I'll just let you!

 






Please share your success stories!
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Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 6, 2013 at 4:49 PM

    Success is when my kids remember their manners, when they play together happily for a few minutes and are actually getting along nicely.

    Success is getting ice cream after a meeting because everyone sat still.

    Success is when I get anything useful accomplished, despite taking care of two active kids at the same time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 6, 2013 at 10:35 PM

    Success:
    1) Finishing the kids bed time routine, which includes reading a story, with a happy smile :-)
    2) Playing at least one game a day with each of the kids.
    3) And finally but not least, enjoying and appreciating their moments.

    ReplyDelete

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