106 Marbles
What is success? 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; That is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today I woke up second-guessing my decision to go to New Orleans. Here’s a bit of the internal dialogue that went on, My inner critic:“What are you thinking? Going to New Orleans to research what’s basically a school assignment?!?” Me: “I just know that I have to go down there.” IC: “Know? Like a little voice told you? Well here’s another little voice telling you you’re crazy.” Me: “Sometimes things that look crazy aren’t as crazy as they seem.” IC: “May I remind you of a couple of other things you knew about…getting back with Ex-man and you’re Ex-husband - and look how well that turned out.” Hmmm, my inner critic had me there. I started to question my own judgment. When I question my own judgment, it brings into question my intuition. My intuition is one of the major tools that I use in my writing and in my life. If my intuition is off, then perhaps I’m completely off course – it would be like setting off on a journey with my compass out of whack. If this is so, I might be taking a useless journey with my writing that will never lead anywhere. (It doesn’t help that I have mental illness in my family, so I’ve seen a few too many whacky compasses.)
This type of circuitous thinking is enough to drive me slightly crazy. It makes me picture my mother rowing a boat (she could only row in circles). Luckily I paid a visit to one of my good friends today who put the brakes on my cannibalistic mind with her pragmatic insights. Firstly, she told me how my ability to see how things connect is a good thing but not when I lump unrelated things together and make a connection. The tangled mess of interconnectedness I was weaving was getting me caught in my own web. She told me to take out four strands: Family, Relationships, Writing/school, and Work. These are the four areas of my life. Now all I have to do each week is decide what I want to happen in each area and move each area forward. I’m to see each area as distinct and separate categories. Phew! Sounds super easy.
As I was getting into my car after leaving my friend’s house, I thought about all the “successful” people who have incredible insight when it comes to career/business but who have personal lives that are fodder for the tabloids. To me a successful life seems to be balanced in all categories. And then I arrived at my personal definition of success – to have fulfilling relationships in all quadrants of my life: partnership, family, friends, and my life’s work.
What are the distinct categories of your life? Is there something that you can do to tend to/move forward each area of your life every week? Every day?
What is success? 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; That is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today I woke up second-guessing my decision to go to New Orleans. Here’s a bit of the internal dialogue that went on, My inner critic:“What are you thinking? Going to New Orleans to research what’s basically a school assignment?!?” Me: “I just know that I have to go down there.” IC: “Know? Like a little voice told you? Well here’s another little voice telling you you’re crazy.” Me: “Sometimes things that look crazy aren’t as crazy as they seem.” IC: “May I remind you of a couple of other things you knew about…getting back with Ex-man and you’re Ex-husband - and look how well that turned out.” Hmmm, my inner critic had me there. I started to question my own judgment. When I question my own judgment, it brings into question my intuition. My intuition is one of the major tools that I use in my writing and in my life. If my intuition is off, then perhaps I’m completely off course – it would be like setting off on a journey with my compass out of whack. If this is so, I might be taking a useless journey with my writing that will never lead anywhere. (It doesn’t help that I have mental illness in my family, so I’ve seen a few too many whacky compasses.)
This type of circuitous thinking is enough to drive me slightly crazy. It makes me picture my mother rowing a boat (she could only row in circles). Luckily I paid a visit to one of my good friends today who put the brakes on my cannibalistic mind with her pragmatic insights. Firstly, she told me how my ability to see how things connect is a good thing but not when I lump unrelated things together and make a connection. The tangled mess of interconnectedness I was weaving was getting me caught in my own web. She told me to take out four strands: Family, Relationships, Writing/school, and Work. These are the four areas of my life. Now all I have to do each week is decide what I want to happen in each area and move each area forward. I’m to see each area as distinct and separate categories. Phew! Sounds super easy.
As I was getting into my car after leaving my friend’s house, I thought about all the “successful” people who have incredible insight when it comes to career/business but who have personal lives that are fodder for the tabloids. To me a successful life seems to be balanced in all categories. And then I arrived at my personal definition of success – to have fulfilling relationships in all quadrants of my life: partnership, family, friends, and my life’s work.
What are the distinct categories of your life? Is there something that you can do to tend to/move forward each area of your life every week? Every day?
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