My uncle was considered strange in his family for being the first to work. A decorated colonel, success for him lay beyond what he knew and in the court of law. For many working women, though, this is not the case. Rather than measuring success in terms of career, many women view success as maintaining a happy family, doing charitable work, or expanding their learning. For others, success is staying free from mental illness.
It is an interesting observation in that many women choose to leave their careers to take care of their children (their idea of success). Yet a part of them feels unfulfilled and they return to work, at least part-time, in order to nourish this part of themselves.
Success is more than family or career or physical health. Success is the culmination of all of these. To view a single aspect of our lives as the key to happiness or success is to invite the others to fall to neglect.
This thought process is the foundation of Brookhaven Retreat’s Poncho® Program – that no aspect of life should be unexplored. Rather, all aspects of life should support health and happiness.
If we focus solely on our family as the bearers of success, a part of us remains unfulfilled. Likewise, society emphasizes money and power as the keys to happiness. This narrow focus ignores love, family, health, mental wellness and personal exploration.
We must each examine what success means to us. No matter what we enjoy most in life, success lies in doing it passionately. Living passionately suffuses every aspect of our lives to fill it with joy and happiness.
Do everything passionately. Take a walk in the icy cold. Go to a museum just to visit your favorite painting. Share your passion for a perfect apple pie with your closest friends. Whatever is important to you, do it passionately and with all your heart, and you will not fail to succeed.
Ultimately what you do is secondary. But how you do it is primary. ~ Eckhart Tolle
