How do you measure success?...............

Over the past two weeks, I have eaten breakfast and lunch, and more importantly did NOT eat past 7:30 pm on MOST days. This has gotten me thinking about how one measures success. Granted, success can be measured on a variety of levels, regarding a variety of things. Whenever I think of success (of any type), it makes me think of my youngest and oldest brothers, and how they made their lives successfull.

To say that I come from a somewhat disfunctional family is like saying the sun rises in the morning, it is just a part of life. (Possibly explained by the fact that the six of us lost our parents five months apart when the oldest was eighteen and the youngest was four). Of the six of us, three have passed, three of us get together as often as we are able. Right wrong or otherwise, I had very little contact with my oldest/youngest brother throughout their adult lives, but through the grace of God, I was able to reconnect with them at the time of their deaths, and hear about the difference they made to the people they came in contact with. This is a gift I will always cherish.

My oldest brother spent his last few years (of life) picking up the pieces after taking a wrong turn. He was working in a (more than likely) low paying job, one that many people would snear at and think beneath them. At his funeral, his boss and many (more than one or two)company employees came to pay their respects. They all came with stories about my brother. Person after person shared with me how he always had a smile, a joke(mmmmm...must be humor runs in our family), a kind word, as he made his rounds for the day, and that he would be missed. Hearing these things, I realized just how successful his life had been (and how much I had missed out on by not staying in touch).

My youngest brother (the baby of the family),spent most of his adult life in and out of drug and alcohol treatment programs, some court ordered, some voluntary. Sometime during the last year or two of his life, he had made his way to California and was living on the beach. At around that same time, a small church out there began a program to assist homeless people. Many of the people in the church were fearful of the homeless (remember fear is born from lack of knowledge.... who WANTS to have first hand knowledge of homelessness?)and were somewhat resistive to the whole program. My brother changed their hearts and minds. (Read that last sentence again..... Talk about success!)

About five days before his death, we (us three remaining siblings) got word that he was in the end stages of liver failure. We flew out to the hospital, and had a family reunion of sorts. During that time, we got to meet some of his church family, and as with our older brother, hear about the wonderful ways he touched people's hearts and made a difference in their lives. Talk about getting a gift.

To know that my brother's were loved, and cared about gives me a great deal of comfort and peace. To know that they made a difference in the world around them gives me a huge sense of pride.

As a society, we sometimes use fame and fortune as a yardstick of success. I am not hear to say that famous people do not deserve their fortunes (personally, I think they pay a very high price for them, through all the public scrutiny they must endure. I'd rather not, thank you very much). What I want you to think about, is that there are many ways to be a success. If you think you are in a dead-end job, look around and find the value in the work you do. If you go days without feeling appreciated, know that somtimes you are doing things that go un-acknowledged, but not un-appreciated. The very fact that you exsist gives you the opportunity to make a difference, and to be the kind of success that cannot be measured by money and/or face recognition. The kind of success that I believe is much more important, and what I try and do each and every day. It is not about the life purpose we pick, but about what we do with the life purpose we are living.

Today, along with your blessings, celebrate your successes..... every little one of them.