The Secret of My Success

I've been thinking a lot lately about being successful in life. I don't know why, maybe it's just my age but it's a thought that seems to crop up more and more. When I was a young child, I remember my mother saying these words to our father, after she told us that she was going to have another baby. I was the eldest, and we always seemed to have no shortage of babies. (Two sets of twins in a row, no less!) Anyway, my mother said to my father, "Oh, Clarke, another child! We're getting richer every day." By saying this, my mother instilled in me the knowledge that richness wasn't monetary wealth. It's how much love is in your home. And growing up, our home was full of love.

Oh, boy, was it ever!

I received a thank-you note from good friends today who live in Pie Town, NM. I love the name of their town. They also sent a little magnet, with this inscribed on it. I think it's seredipitous that it arrived today. I'd been thinking of them a lot lately, as well as the subject matter to follow.

"To laugh often and love much;

to win the respect of intellectual persons and the adoration of children;

to earn the approbation of learned critics and to endure the betrayal of fake friends;

to appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others;

to give of one's self;

to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;

to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- this is to have succeeded."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I just felt better having read this. My heart goes out to my friends who are so far away.

Big storm a-headed our way, according to all the weather reports. Not so much with the snow, but it's ice that's a-comin'. I just hope we don't lose power because it's awfully cold out there. I am looking forward to the possibility of a snow day and since I work at a school, I get snow days.