WHERE ARE YOU ALREADY FLYING HIGH?

‘I am a failure.’

This was the dominant discourse of my jabbering mind, 
on the dawn of my 35th birthday.

A belief shaped by the shiny backdrop of instagram stories,
and LinkedIn bios.
Best-selling authors,
and fledgling founders.
‘Mindset’ coaches,
and money-making managers.
Glamorous couples,
and grinning celebrities.
Even, first-time parents,
and newfound lovers.

My eye,
– crafted across a lifetime –
honed-in on all that I did not have.
All that I had not ‘achieved.’

Yet,
as I arrived at the pub 
– to mark my milestone – 
I saw in a circle,
all that I have.

The great success that I already am.

In the friendships I have formed,
the love I have fostered,
the laughter I have shared,
the fun I have had,
the skills I have acquired,
the space I have held,
the changes I have made,
the vulnerability I have modelled,
the alignment I have moved toward.

The further that I am journeying,
the more that I am yielding.

Understanding,
that life does not go in straight lines.
But instead ebbs,
flows,
and unfolds.

That outward appearance,
is rarely the inward experience.

Rather,
we are all human;
fragile,
flawed,
and beautiful.

That
– perhaps –
I have been gazing at the wrong North Star.

That my barometers of ‘success,’
should soften, 
evolve,
and expand.

That a mindset of abundance,
– rather than scarcity –
is the soil
of a life well lived.

As we move into summer,
– this great season of abundance –
I wonder,
where are you already a great success?