The Definition of Success Part I

How do you measure success? I'm not sure if you can accurately "measure" it, but you can use numerous indicators and tests if you want to try. The most common yardsticks of success seem to be career accomplishments and economic security. Although the only one that really matters is one's own personal measurement.

My Sister's Graduation

What gives your life meaning and fulfillment? My measurements of success aren't strongly tied to my career. Not to say I haven't loved my jobs, with one exception, I've LOVED every one of them. It does feel good to work hard at something I enjoy and accomplish goals. But my job is not a goal in itself, it is a means to an end. My most important concerns are, am I happy and have I made a difference? If I can answer yes to these two questions before bed at night, then I count my day as a successful one. If my job can help me with those goals, then it is a good job, if it cannot then it's time to find a new career.How do you see your job? Is it your one true passion, a way to pay the bills, or a means with which you accomplish happiness? And what do you do to feel successful?

Rites of Passage

My sister is graduating from High School in a few days. As I sat in a gymnasium with 300 other proud, bored relatives for an awards ceremony tonight, I began to remember my days in High School. I think my high school experience was not a stereotypical one. Or at least my memories of that time don't seem to ignite the same strong emotions in me as they do in my close friends and family. Most people I know look upon their high school days as either a period of great trauma and pain or as the "glory days" when they were at their peak. Why do those four years of high school inspire so many more memories and emotions than any other four years of life?It must be because high school is a period of much transition. Transition seems to inspire so much conflict and trouble. High school is our first great transition, and apparently it does not go smoothly for many people. Perhaps I don't remember high school as potently because I feel like my life is constantly in transition. In many ways I'm still in high school. I still learn something new almost every day, my future is still wide open and undetermined, and I'll soon be leaving home for new adventures. In that way I hope I never graduate.