Sweet Success

I have reached my three months working at Vincent House... Yippeee! (See an old post on VH for more info) It's my new job and little by little, the community I feel a part of here in St. Petersburg. Each day we begin with a Morning Meeting where all together (members and staff) we share news, encouragement and upcoming events. The business unit puts together a newsletter everyday that had a sections for somebody's thoughts, experiences or for some type of poem or quote. Today we had some words by Ralph Waldo Emerson on Success. They are also framed on the wall in one of our house bathrooms (so hey, visit by visit I almost have it memorized :) ) I guess after all the traveling and job starting and stopping I've done in recent years there are moments when I look back and wonder, have I been successful? Is success a 40 hr a week job that pays your health insurance? (U.S. Health care system- post for another day...) Is success feeling content with your life?

Here's what Emerson had to say:

SUCCESS
To laugh often and much;
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 lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I know it sounds like he's an old man looking back at life and I am not in that moment, but still, something about it appeals to me. Maybe it's the garden patch line :)
Wishing you all success however you define it.

Shanti bathing successfully in the Gulf of Mexico.