Sweet Smell Of Success

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

eight ways to Sunday

This time of year has a strange effect on me. In addition to being extremely buoyant, I'm also extremely pensive. I tend to get just a tiny bit melancholy looking back at the year that is coming to an end. I start wondering if I spent it wisely or did I fritter it away.

We all set goals on New Year's eve. I try not to make them unattainable like losing a 100 pounds or something equally foolish, but there is always one or two that I set the bar high on to try and stretch myself.

Did I finish my book or even get a short story completed? No.

Did I double my followers on my blog? No.

Did I attain some level of success?

Let me think about that last one just for a moment.

~I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.~Jonathan Winters

First I guess I would need to define what I consider success to be. Is it being the Queen Bee in the world of antiques? Is it being the number one blog or at least being in the top 100? Is it writing the Great American Novel and being #1 on the NY Times Bestsellers List? Would I be willing to do anything to achieve this status?

Looking at these questions and knowing my priorities...my answer would be no. I'm not willing to sacrifice myself, my family or my life to achieve these type of goals. The type of success I hope to attain...when it comes...will be by just being me and following the path God has laid out for me.

~Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one, Helen Keller is the other.~Erma Bombeck

I know there is a handful of y'all out there who already think I'm the Cat's pajamas and for that success, I'm thankful. There's a couple of little girls who happen to think I'm the craziest g'mother ever and for that success, I'm truly thankful. There are 395 of y'all who drop in every now and then and for that success, I'm thankful. There's a certain lady who can out-write, out-think, and out-class me who thinks I stand a chance of becoming a somebody and for that success, I'm very thankful.

Perhaps success is much like these photos seen in reverse. It comes in bits and pieces until the final picture reveals what truly is important.

~Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are~Anonymous I may have found my answer while watching a bio on Barry Manilow. With all his many awards, gold and platinum albums, and sold-out concerts, he said the true measure of whether he had succeeded lay not in his bank account, but rather in whether he had made people feel any emotion through his music.

Using his formula...the answer is up to y'all. Whether it's sadness, joy, disgust, anger...if you left here feeling something, anything...I am a success....and for that...I'm humbly thankful.

~Don't fly so high you end up landing in bird poop.~Helen L. Callahan

(Thanks Mother...I repeat that to myself every day!) Seven secret Santas

This chick a-crafting

These mem-OH-ries

For-ever young

Three generations

Two naughty lists

And a snow-clad lady at W&T's!