How do you measure your personal success? Perhaps you are only happy with yourself, if you meet the days quota at work. Success to you might mean making the most money possible in one day. For some occupations, success means arriving back home alive. Students would call an A+ on a test a success. How we measure our own success could potentially be causing us unnecessary daily stress and feelings of failure …even hopelessness. Yet, where does it all start?
Each evening we go to bed with a mental checklist of things that we think we NEED to accomplish throughout the next day. Let’s imagine yours looks something like this:
- Wake up early for prayer and Bible study. (I gotta start living better!)
- Stop and put air in my tires. (The red lights are flashing.)
- Pick up milk and bread. (Oh yes, and “boloney”)
- Call the guy to fix the garage door. (Maybe he will come this time. I’ve already called the man four times! Ugh! Does he not understand rain causes my hair to frizz?)
- Don’t forget to buy an anniversary gift. (I have no idea what to buy… he never likes what I buy anyway. He probably won’t even remember it’s today. Oh…But, If he doesn’t…Grrr!)
- Pick Kyra up from practice. (I CANNOT be late!)
Unfortunately, your day didn’t go quite as planned. You slept through the alarm intentionally, pressing snooze four times. For Heaven’s sake, you’re exhausted! Prayer and Bible study would have to wait until the evening. That meant there was absolutely no time to stop and get air in the tires. The meeting at work lasted an hour and a half longer than you expected. You grabbed yourself by the hair of your head and screamed, “Seriously, now there’s no time to stop at the grocery! The garage guy won’t answer his phone. I’m pretty sure he’s ignoring me. He doesn’t care about my hair at all!”
It’s now 6:30 p.m. You zoomed over to the softball field and found Kyra alone. She raced to your vehicle and burst into tears. Kyra bellowed, “Coach Asher called me out on my batting techniques in front of God and everybody else! Kessa and Laney stood over there laughing at me and rolling their eyes. They are no better than me at batting.”
Calmly, you drove over to the empty parking lot and pulled Kyra into a warm and soothing “mommy hug.” Pushing the blonde wavy hair off of her face, you explained that the girls who laughed at her have ugly hearts and need her prayers. You exclaimed, “I’m so proud that you don’t act that way.” Then, you proceeded to offer to get extra batting lessons for Kyra and reminded her if she wants to be successful on a team, she must put in the extra effort. Finally, you reassured her of how much she means to you and that you’ll always love her.
Feeling like a total failure with a list of things left undone, you decided to go home and take a short nap before supper. Wait, what? You suddenly realized there was no time for a nap! You had forgotten your husband’s anniversary gift! Ahhhh! Since when does he come home before supper? For once, you were glad he forgot your anniversary again!
Would you call this day a successful day? True, most things on your list did not get taken care of, but you tried. There is still time for Bible study and prayer. All of the family can go out to eat and celebrate your anniversary. The rest of the “To do” list can be completed eventually.
Surprisingly, this day should be considered a success! Why? You taught your daughter the importance of having a good heart and of putting forth extra effort. You were there with emotional support when your daughter needed you. Most importantly, you showed your daughter unconditional love.
When a person’s day includes showing love to those who need it most, it IS successful. Period!
How did I acquire this bountiful knowledge? I am a teacher. I have daily curriculum that I’m required to teach in Reading and Writing. I am supposed to keep the students motivated, engaged, and constantly showing growth. However, there are special programs that are offered during my classes, I have students with baggage that they have brought from home that prevents me from going further until I take care of the problem. I myself have carried burdens from home that have laid heavily on my mind while I was trying to teach. Students have been called for pictures, bus passes, club meetings and such! It has sometimes felt so overwhelming! I often asked myself, “Did I accomplish anything at all today?” I’ve learned to claim success, if I have shown love and compassion. If I keep my cool and persistence, the “To Do List” will certainly come more effectively soon after.
He that Loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:8
Now, how successful were you today? Do you need to go hug someone and tell them you love them??
