Today’s #bloganuary prompt asks how you define success.
You can see that I have titled my post “the ladder. ” That’s probably a little misleading, certainly in my case.
I do think that when I was younger–and to a lesser extent even now–I define success from so-called career titles. But what’s interesting is how those titles have changed.
My very first “serious ” career was a legal career and to this day I still use my education quite a bit although I don’t practice law anymore. I rarely, if ever, mention it in passing. Whole groups of people don’t even know that I am a lawyer and that’s fine.
Then I left law to write, speak and work in retail horticulture. I did that full time for 8 years. I loved it, but the Spoiler wanted me around on weekends and retail doesn’t permit that.
So I got an office job. I still write and speak about gardening but my work is now Monday-Friday. And just this past weekend, I found myself arguing vehemently that I had to find time to do something during the week and not on the weekends because I didn’t want to take the time away from my husband on the weekend. I ended the conversation with the words “remember, marriage is a vocation too.”
So it’s interesting that I am apparently protecting that–and even thinking about it as a quasi-duty.
So success? For me it is not monetary in any way. It is more about peace and happiness at home. Not everyone has that luxury, I realize.
Gardendaze 