Success can be something that is gentle. It doesn’t have to be huge. Most importantly, we don’t have to keep measuring ourselves up to bigger definitions of success and consequently feel like a failure.
This poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson sums this up beautifully. It was recently read at my friend’s mum’s funeral and I found it deeply touching:
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 have lived.
This is to have succeeded.