Success – What is it and isn’t?

• Success is sitting down to pay the bills and knowing that you have enough money to cover them, this month and next month. It’s knowing that you have taken measures to ensure the financial security of your family in the event of your demise.
• Success is knowing where to turn when it seems that there’s nowhere to turn. Having a spiritual life is akin to eating food and drinking water. It’s necessary!
• Success is having interests or hobbies to call your own. It’s things that you personally anticipate doing again and again. Having interests gives you job and peace.
• Success is waking up in the morning and feeling food. It’s knowing that you eat right and exercise regularly and that you do everything you personally can to ensure continued good health.
• Success is turning out the lights, slipping under the covers, and thinking to yourself, “It just doesn’t get much better than this!” It’s whispering a prayer of gratitude to your Creator before you fall into a deep, restful sleep.

And here are a few things that success is not:

• Success isn’t calling home from work for the fourth time this week, apologizing because you’re going to miss dinner with the family again.
• Success isn’t hurrying into the house and hiding behind closed doors or the television set because “After the day I’ve had, I need my space!”
• Success isn’t having all the riches in the world and still trying to figure out how to have more of all the riches in the world.
• Success isn’t physically going to a worship service and mentally writing a to-do list for when you get home.
• Success isn’t all work and no play.
• Success isn’t burning the candle at both ends and living on a diet of food that’s delivered through little windows.
• Success isn’t spending mental energy figuring out how to explain why your project isn’t going to come in on time, why you have to miss your child’s school play, why you can’t pay the bill in full as you promised, why your eyes are red and your blood pressure is going through the roof, why you’re canceling your golf game, and why you just don’t find any joy in living.

Success is directly related to having a balanced life. If any one area is out of sync, all the areas of your life suffer. Take the time to examine your life and take small steps to gain balance.