Happy Sunday,
How is everyone doing this fine Sunday morning? Good I hope. All is well here. Not too much to report. Just sitting here hanging out with Molly and Oreo, my fur babies and enjoying some music and quiet time. I re did my loft/craft room, so now I have a small love seat upstairs that has a chaise lounge and I’m loving it. It gives me a nice comfy place to write and hang out. Things are finally quieting down and I’m missing all the commotion, yet on the flip side, I’m enjoying the calm.
I saw this awesome quote the other day and had to not only share it, but comment on it. It’s by Albert Einstein and it says, “try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” So what is the difference? I mean, it almost seems like if you are a success, then you would be of value, right? So, I looked it up, what the difference would be and according to ethicssage.com, “values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or action. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us.” Now success is described as, ” the ability to achieve personal, professional, and life goals. This is done through proper planning, hard work, and will. The successful person is the person who is capable of making critical, bold decisions to reach his/her desired goals.”-researchgate.net.
So what did Einstein mean when he said, “try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value?” To me, what he’s saying is, when you have values that guide your life, success will follow. Being a person of value is what defines us as a person. It speaks to the way we treat, not only others, but ourselves too. Our value system is what guides us and motivates us to behave in a certain way and if we are overall, good people, treating others with love and respect, sort of like the old golden rule, “treat others the way you want to be treated,” then success is sure to follow.
When we are a person of value, we are showing up, doing our best, right? Well, a successful person is someone who is always doing their best in all aspects of their life, even if the outcome doesn’t present with hug results, we’ve done out best and that makes us, or should make us feel proud of ourselves. When we are successful, we have a place to call home. It’s a place where we are comfortable and we feel safe and by having a home, taking care of our home, we are showing we value what we have and we can say without a doubt, we’ve achieved something great.
When we strive for value in ourselves, we choose a better way of living. We do our best to understand the difference between needs and wants. We are successful when we live within our means. We show that we value ourselves when we are financially stable, which in turn, makes us successful. We are able to work towards our life goals, not the goals in which society defines us. When we can provide for ourselves and our families and still maintain balance between work and quality family time and a life with our family, we are successful. We have allowed our core value system to shine through, making us successful.
It’s up to us to determine our own core value system. For me, I value my family and friends. I value love and being loved. I also value being able to make my creative dreams come true, which in turn, is my stepping stone to my own, personal growth. Sure, I want financial stability, and I’ve worked the last four years to gain my own, personal, financial freedom, and I’m getting closer, one day at a time. I feel that I’m successful, more so now then I ever was before and the funny thing is, I don’t have the money I used to, but I have a sense of accomplishment, because of where I’m at today. With a mind shift of not needing to have the best, that is, the best according to society, I am happy and very content with what I have and what I do now. I write, I quilt, I design cards and I will hopefully be able to make a living with my creativity. I have a plan in place, and though I fall of course from time to time, overall, I know where I want to be in a month from now, six months and a year down the road. Like John says, put it out to the Universe and it’ll happen.
To me, when you value yourself, you are already successful. I am learning that I am valuable and I have value and I want to be valued. I think that’s my first step in being successful in this life. That’s just my thought and opinion. I’d love to hear yours.
What do you value? What are your greatest successes in this life? I’d love to hear from you. I hope you are all happy, safe and doing well. Until next time, don’t forget, Love Life++
Love Life with Dawna 