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| High School Year Book photo. Throwback to 2002 baby! |
I'm not here to talk about the past, but the present and the future. And this question of success. If you would ask someone on the street what success looks like, answers would most likely revolve around job, money, fancy cars, possessions and family. And I shrug my shoulders and laugh... because I have none of these things.
I'm 31 years old. I don't have a job. I don't have a car. I don't have a house. I don't have a husband or children. I have very little money. From an outside perspective perhaps it looks like I have NOTHING. But in my own view, I have everything and more. I may not have money, but I never really liked money anyway.
I am not rich with possessions but I am so rich in experience! I do not have a husband or children of my own, but I have loved hundreds of children of all ages, color and nationality. I don't own a house or a car, but I have luggage that is well used and memories so rich and full of life. I have thousands of people that I would call friends sprinkled all around the world! I don't have a steady job (so to speak) but I have opportunities to teach in foreign countries, meet the "locals", experience different flavors.
When I graduated from high school, I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted a "normal" life. Get married, buy a nice house, have a career... You know... do things that would actually make me look "successful". But then I began to travel. I began to explore. I ended up in 31 different countries with a million different experiences. And I changed. Time changed me. Experience changed me. My dreams and my goals are so much bigger now!
I believe that God has me on this crazy adventure! He knows my heart and he knows my dreams. I am not one bit worried. A few verses that I love to help my thoughts continue...
Proverbs 2:7 “He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.”
Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Psalm 37:34 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
This adventure called life holds so many surprises, twists and turns (both good and bad). I believe because of my walk with God and my "delight" in Him that all of my dream will come true. He is the author of my heart, my hopes and my dreams. Now more than ever I am daring to dream BIG! I am doing wild and crazy things and loving it!
In 2013, Arianna Huffington told the graduates of Smith College that the definition of success is "well-being, wisdom, our ability to wonder, and, to give back." I enjoy this definition. What is Success is very much a question we all have to answer for ourselves. After all... I'm 31 years old, I don't have a job, a husband, a car, a house... but by golly- I can't imagine my life any other way!
The fact of the matter is that we each have to decide what success is. It is a question that we all need to ask ourselves. For me, I'm happy, and that makes life a huge success! I never really wanted to gain material possessions but I wanted to somehow make a difference in this world. I'm still striving for that... to continue with well-being, wisdom, wonder and to give back. :-)
