San Diego Reader

As a society maybe we should re-evaluate our expectations regarding what it means to be a success. Too many feel their success is measured in money and material goods. They end up wealthy and alone. I feel it's full measure should be more in terms of human contact and the heart, character and credibility. The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson provides this elegant definition of success:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.