What is Success??

I watched the last Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien today. He's not my favorite late night host -I'd rather watch Craig Ferguson and even Jay Leno, to be honest. I think that Conan's funny...sort of, but he kinda creeps me out for some reason and I'm not sure why. HOWEVER, when he's got Andy Richter on there, that creepiness kinda evens out a bit. I like Andy and actually USED to watch Late Night with Conan O'Brien when Andy was on there. When he left, it got very stupid, tedious, and creepy so I quit watching unless it was on and I had nothing better to do or someone I was interested in was a guest.

But last night, towards the end, Conan said something that boosted my respect of him a little bit more. I wish him well in whatever endeavor he finds next, but I'm pretty sure I won't be watching it unless it's amazing (and Andy is with him!). He said, "Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen."

I agree. I know this is true. Completely. I would never be where I am nor on the path that I am if I did not believe this and know this is true. There are no handouts. There is no room for cynicism. Everything you need is all in your own power. In the end, it might not work out exactly as you had envisioned in the beginning, but if you have been working hard, have been kind to others (and hey, face it, that means being kind to yourself...FIRST, in a healthy way), and are genuine in both your work and your kindness, things literally fall into place and what you've got is amazing -maybe even better than you had originally thought you wanted. Even if what you've got is a nice, stable, small, quiet little family -isn't that as amazing as earning a bazillion dollars a year with 5 houses scattered among the globe and a private island? Happiness is perspective and I really think that success is as well.

Success is the result of working hard and being kind to your fellow human beings -and your world. And also, I think that success is FEELING that sense of accomplishment, that sense of how far you've come. It's intensely personal. So maybe one could say that "success" is both a transient feeling and more of a personal perspective than a tangible "thing". There are some people who would say that I am successful in some areas of my life that I don't agree with -that's because I know what more I want to do, but to the outside world, I'm "successful". There are others who look at my life and say I'm not successful because I don't make a lot of money -their definition of success is earning lots of money. Here's my take on that: I COULD make 30% more money somewhere else, so to me, the mere potential I have for earning that is success enough. I don't need to earn that to feel good to feel like I've "made it". I make enough to support myself and not get myself into situations where I need to rely on other people to bail me out or worry how I'm going to get to the next payday. That is success to me. And, people respect my knowledge about several topics. That's success to me as well. And, I've got great friends who would do almost anything for me if I needed something. That's success to me too. All of that reflects my hard work, my kindness, and my persistence.

So now I feel bad because I totally talked about myself this entire post, but that's how it goes on blogs. I'd rather talk about myself than talk about other people because I like to respect people's privacy. Unless I get mad. Then all bets are off. HAHA!

Today I've got a roaring fire going and I'm catching up on my DVR programs from the week. I'll be making chili this weekend as well along with pretty much doing nothing. Oh yeah, I'll indulge in my dirty little secret (see previous post) as well on Sunday and I will probably get some housework done as well because I have company coming next weekend.

Thanks for checking in and reading! Be nice to people and work hard...you never can tell when it pays off. But remember to work equally hard at being good to yourself and taking care of yourself; that pays off too.