Authentic Success

"Authentic success is having time enough to pursue personal pursuits that bring you pleasure, time enough to make the loving gestures for your family you long to do, time enough to care for your home, tend your garden, nurture your soul... Authentic success is knowing that if today were your last day on earth, you could leave without regret. Authentic success is feeling focused and serene when you work, not fragmented. It's knowing that you've done the best that you possibly can, no matter what circumstances you faced; it's knowing in your soul that the best you can do is all you can do, and that the best you can do is always enough.

"Authentic success is accepting your limitations, making peace with your past, and reveling in your passions so that your future may unfold according to a Divine Plan. It's discovering and calling forth your gifts and offering them to the world to help heal its ravaged heart. It's making a difference in other lives and believing that if you can do that for just one person each day, through a smile, a shared laugh, a caress, a kind word, or a helping hand, blessed are you among women.

"Authentic success is not just money in the bank but a contented heart and peace of mind... It's earning what you feel you deserve for the work you do and knowing that you're worth it. Authentic success is paying your bills with ease, taking care of all your needs and the needs of those you love, indulging some wants, and having enough left over to save and share. Authentic success is not about accumulating but letting go, because all you have is all you truly need. Authentic success is feeling good about who you are, appreciating where you've been, celebrating your achievements, and honoring the distance you've already come. Authentic success is reaching the point where being is as important as doing. It's the steady pursuit of a dream. It's realizing that no matter how much time it takes for a dream to come true in the physical world, no day is ever wasted. It's valuing inner, as well as outer, labor - both your own and others'. It's elevating labor to a craft and craft to an art by bestowing Love on every task you undertake.

"Authentic success is knowing how simply abundant your life is exactly as it is today. Authentic success is being so grateful for the many blessings bestowed on you and yours that you can share your portion with others.

"Authentic success is living each day with a heart overflowing."
--Simple Abundance

That's what I needed today. Thank you Sarah Ban Breathnach.


Things I am thankful for today:

1. My sleepy dog - she went back to bed without me this morning! Goodness...
2. The routine of the school year.
3. Beautiful music.
4. A spontaneous dinner with the hubby.
5. A wonderful new print for our house - from a discount store. So fun!
6. Venting. Sometimes it's needed.
7. Book group. I love these ladies.
8. Funny dreams. The kind that make you do funny things - and your spouse tries to help... Until you realize you're just dreaming... Then you feel dumb. Ha ha ha.
9. Melissa is pain-free!
10. Beth H. made it home safe and sound from Japan after an interesting plane landing today!