The Definition of Success

I wrote the following post earlier this week and was initially hesitant to post it. But I have decided to be more of an 'honest' blogger, writing about both the good times and the bad. So here goes!

Last week I had a play date with a friend whom I hadn't seen since High School. In other words, we hadn't seen each other in twelve years. Twelve years. Man I am getting old!

 

She has four kids also, so we took the kids to Central Gardens in Merrylands. What a great place! It was thirty degrees that day, but the park is completely sheltered. We had a fabulous day as we chatted, fed our stomachs, and the kids played under the sun.

 

As the day came to a close my friend turned to me and said  'I must say, of all the people from school who I thought would end up with four kids, I didn't think it would have been you. But motherhood really becomes you'.

 

Later that day, I got to thinking. Would the person I was when I went to High School be happy with the person I had become today?

 

The more I thought about it, the more my thoughts turned pessimistic. I began to wonder if being a mother was enough for me. Yes I still work part time and have a degree, but there was a time when I would have aspired to so much more then that. What had I done with my life over the past twelve years? Had I achieved anything? In a way, I felt that somewhere in those twelve years, I had lost that girl from High School, and had become very ok with mediocrity.

In hindsight, I know I was being quite dramatic. Very dramatic really. But thoughts turn into action. And I know I wasn't a very good mother or wife that day.

 

I told my husband how I felt and where my thoughts were taking me.

 

He listened, let me vent, and then simply replied: "I think you need to re-evaluate your definition of "success".

 

So I ask myself what is my definition of success? I'm still trying to figure it out, but there are a few things I know. I know I want to be educated and that education is a lifelong journey. I know I want to live a good, clean and righteous life. I want to be a good wife. And most of all I want to raise good men. Men that value work, and men that are kind. That's not too much to ask right?1?

So I wonder, what is your definition of success?