The Aforementioned High-Pressure Cleaner…
For me success means I am on the right track in my life; I am moving forward in the right direction towards the goals that are perfect for me. As much as I love checking off my to-do lists, in thinking about success I realized that it no longer has to mean I achieved those goals (yet), though that’s definitely success as well.
For example, this week I used a high-pressure cleaner for the first time. What does that have to do with success? Well, remember how I got myself a table, a bench, and a few chairs for the garden after wishing for those for years? Where I live, the fence around the property was dirty, mossy, and generally ugly, so I contacted the landlord and offered to clean it. This week I did just that, using the aforementioned high-pressure cleaner. Now, I am sitting here in my garden taking advantage of the last rays of sunshine before a storm front carrying rain hits us. I am immensely enjoying the whiteness of this clean fence, with the knowledge that I made it happen; I took the steps to creating a beautiful outside space. My plans for this place are not completed, but the fence was a major part. It is the satisfaction of having achieved a step forward that makes me feel successful, despite not having reached the end goal yet.
Thinking and writing about how I am successful makes me see another huge accomplishment: I have moved from having to have a goal completely finished in order for it to count as a success, to acknowledging how I’ve made the the individual steps of the progress. Before, only a finished goal was proof of my own capability to myself! Any steps of an unfinished goal, despite creating progress and growth, did not count as such. Now the feeling is different. As mentioned in the beginning, the knowledge that I am on the right path towards my goals and dreams is now the determining factor. This gives me satisfaction and a deep sense of peace. “You’re going to make it!” is the message, and it allows me to relax into the process, secure in the assurance that I will eventually end up where I want to go. For me, this is a new expression of self-love and self-trust, which I am deeply grateful for!
Written by: Sabine Roggermeier; Gluecklich Im Sein