Success comes in many forms

I posted something on Facebook this week, and got some weird looks.  Well, not looks really, cause it's the internet and you can't really see, but I could certainly FEEL the strange looks as it was probably (ok, REALLY) out of character for me.

But it got me thinking that it would probably make a pretty good blog post (albeit a bit more insightful and serious than normal).  Hey - you did read that this is RANDOM THOUGHTS, right???

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What makes us successful?  So many times, we judge success by how much money we make, the car we drive, or the house we live in.  Sometimes even by the neighborhood, or who we associate with, or where we dine.

Sometimes it's in our job title.  But sometimes it's not.  I own a small business.  So my title is often "Owner"  or "President".  Four and a half years ago, I bought the company that I worked for.  And for many people, they would call me successful for that.  But I don't see it that way.  Over the last four years, the logistics of my business have change, and I don't really enjoy it.  Don't read that wrong....  I love what I do, but I'm not currently enjoying aspects of it.  But that's for another post on another day.

If my success was based on solely on even some of the criteria above, I'd be considered a dismal failure.

Fortunately - success comes in many forms.  Friendships, relationships, family, and many other ways.  But recently for me, it's come in the form of friendships.

Most of my friends don't care that I make VERY little money.  Or that I drive an 11 year old beater of a car.  Why?  Because they are my friends!

I haven't always been a good friend.  I've gone through slumps where I've been very selfish, to the point of not even noticing my friends were struggling.  And I haven't always known how to juggle multiple friendships at once.  I was really bad at it.  I've slowly, over about the last 5 years, learned to manage this, and come to really enjoy it.   And even more recently, I feel like I've started noticing, and trying to offer to be more of the kind of friend that I would like to be.

And in turn, it has me appreciating my friends more.  The more I contribute to my friendships, the more I appreciate them.  Funny how that works out.

It's also made it easier to develop new friendships into lasting friendships.

And I consider that a success.

What does success look like for you?

AMW