“Perhaps the best definition of success is whether you have made of your soul something that does credit to its Maker. If we return ourselves to God bruised but burnished, wiser from all our mistakes and deeper from our struggles, we are successes. In Psalm 147 God is called "The Healer of Shattered Hearts" so if we live with hearts unbroken, we have failed. Risk; hurt; grow: succeed.” –Rabbi David Wolpe
I used to have this list on my wall at the office. It was a
reminder to me to go out and achieve more, to be more, to grow beyond where I
am. It was called “11-Step Action Plan for Leading a Successful, Happy Life.” It
was based on an essay by Max Lincoln Schuster called “Success Is Yours,” and
you can Google it if you want to read the essay. One day I was reading the list
again, for probably the one hundredth time, and I just snapped and tore it off
of my wall. I just couldn't live up to the 11 steps. I couldn't get past the
first one—become the world's supreme expert in something. Supreme expert!
Really? Yeah that was the first step in “Leading a Successful and Happy Life.”
I realized in the moment that I tore it from the wall; that
I was holding myself back from becoming the best I could be because every single day I
would look at the list and in my mind not measure up. I was telling myself that
I was not good enough…not in actual words but in failing to get past the first
thing on my “to do list.” How lame is that? It was just an essay some guy wrote
that people have been passing around for years…and I let it make me feel like a
failure.
Those were not the words of God. They were not from on high,
nor written on stone tablets by the Holy One of Israel. They were just words of
a man and how he saw the world. That is all.
I had forgotten the point…the point of everything…the #42 of
the universe (inside joke for my geeky friends)…I had forgotten that when I
need to know what is required of me that I need to go to the Source…God
Almighty!
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. –Micah 6:8 (NIV)
I am enough. I am good. I am in love with my God, and I will
walk with him all my days.
