Lately, I have been switching up just about everything in my little corner of the world. We will be welcoming a new addition to our Family this October (yes, that makes three and we will be outnumbered). My hard working husband has graduated and is now working 80 hours between his two jobs, apparently thats what you do in corporate America.(I wouldn't know, not my thing). I have also sold my large cleaning business recently. This was a huge change for me. I was getting used to being an on the go, wheeling and dealing, successful business woman. It was a hard business, late nights, early mornings, and a few ulcerative fits thrown in due to stress. Obviously, it was time to slow things down, but these newly found slow paced and hazy summer days have left me contemplating "success". I know it seems rather narcissistic to think about your personal success, but I have a feeling that we all gauge our effectiveness and accomplishments in this world from time to time.
Driving around this little slice of Mid Coast Maine I often cruise past, or behind, my high school chemistry teacher. At seventeen-I was no student, but he was kind and patient with me...when I decided to show up. On the last paper that I turned in, late no doubt, he wrote: "I see great things in your future". I have kept this piece of paper and I think of it often.
I had always thought that this statement was something that I have fallen short of. I had habitually imagined these "great things" as being more akin to the career paths of astronauts, corporate execs, teachers, writers, etc.
I was no astronaut.
It took me ten years to get my Bachelors, something that seemed to be much easier to accomplish as my toddler and infant watched with their little eyes. In the meantime during my twenties, I was busy soaking up life: traveling, working as a nanny to an amazing family, and dabbling in this and that. Diving head first into little because there was always something intangible to swim for instead. If I did take a dive, I quickly found my way back to the shallow end.
Something about my opinion of my own 'success' or accomplishments has shifted this past year. Perhaps these 'great things' that my teacher had foreshadowed are things that I have already accomplished and what I am in the middle of "doing". Yes, I do believe that raising happy and well adjusted children is a feat no less noble than shooting oneself into outer space (cross your fingers for me-both require the same amount of skill and luck). Making sure that we didn't lose our home when my husband left his longtime, well paying job, could very well be said to require the craft of a corporate exec.
My Product Company may not be on the shelves of Target. However, many people thank me for my products and their presence in their favorite local shops. I am always so happy to see my regular customers greet me at various Farmers markets. All of my career paths have allowed me to bring my daughter to each weeks ballet lesson, be present to kiss Greysons MANY boo-boo's, and get their lunch on the table each day. Of course, these simple things may not be everyones life ambitions, but if I really think about it, they are definitely mine.
Maybe its not about world domination, but more so about dominating the realm within which you choose to walk.
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Kate, I love this post. Those childhood ideas of success can be hard to shake. I have to constantly work on reframing those thoughts. I think you are brave, conscientious and innovative. Looks like success to me.
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