it's a bit of a loaded question.
everyone knows the "right" answer. success, of course, is not defined by wealth, or popularity, or career standing, or books to your name... but rather by how rich in love your life is, and how rich you make others' lives, in return.
right? we all know that. or we should know it.
with our heads, at least.
then why does facebook give me social inferiority complexes? and why, when i am connected to a page of alums from my semester in england fourteen years ago, and read all of their accomplishments, does it drive me into a miasma of depression for two days straight?
why doesn't my heart understand what my head knows?
i'm not really sure. it has something to do with unrealized dreams... two alums have published books, for instance... others have run marathons... one is a college English professor...
and something to do with the way the world sees us. i was embarrassed to post on there that i currently am a mother of three teaching at a preschool.
embarrassed.
it's just so wrong. i am, after all, in most ways happy with my life. and in the areas i am not happy, God is teaching me that He is my joy. not circumstances. not career successes. not material wealth.
my success is each minute i spend with my children. each hour i spend washing their clothes, cooking their meals, making their beds. the time we spent yesterday playing hide-and-seek.
my success is letting my husband know i love him.
making a meal for a sick friend.
calling my sister, just because.
walking the halls at the preschool with the one baby who won't stop crying.
in my small house, in my small world, in my small life, i have success.
know it.
"do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things... as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value."
-Teilhard de Chardin
4 comments:
your blog was very comforting for me today thank you! :)
I know quite a few moms who feel that way... especially when they stay at home with their kids and don't have any outside work. I haven't had to deal with those feelings myself yet... maybe because I don't have as many kids yet. Or maybe because I saw first hand as a therapist how hard it is on kids to have career driven moms & I thank God we don't have to put Kayla through that. I love molding and shaping her into the person God created her to be every day! ... hmmm... I feel a post coming on about this on my blog now. :o)
yes, dear Kendra, dear daughter, you understand far better than most. xoxo p+
I really enjoyed this post, Kendra. So raw and human and real.
It's sad that our culture often looks down on the things that matter most of all - caring for our spouses, our kids, and our neighbors.
P.S. I look forward to seeing you on Friday night!
stephanie@metropolitanmama.net
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