I get a monthly business magazine called Success.
It features people who are driven, creative and leaders in their respective fields.
The magazine puts an emphasis into what makes business leaders successful and what is important to them. I have received the magazine for three years now and I’ve noticed a trend. No matter how successful, hard working or high achieving these people are they still value family and appreciate life’s simple moments.
A few weeks ago, I gained a new understanding of what this means. I was dropping something off to my daughter at college. I arrived at her apartment and sent a text to her that I had arrived. She replied to let me know the door was open. I walked in and didn’t see her at first. Then I heard a voice calling: “I’m back in my bedroom!”.
I walked back and caught a glimpse of my daughter working on a lesson plan for her major (Early Childhood Education)
She sat legs crossed Indian style at her computer desk. She was dressed casually with a pony tail in her hair and an inquisitive look on her face. I took a snap shot in my mind and a hundred thoughts popped into my head at once.
I thought of how grown up and intelligent she looked and how I wished I could look that smart. I thought how quickly twenty-two years had passed and how it didn’t seem fair that her childhood was gone. I recalled the days when I looked at her and she was smiling up at me in her crib and now I saw her smile because her college homework was almost completed.
She looked so studious, put together and ready to tackle the future challenge of becoming a teacher.
I thought of how proud I was as a parent that she has gone through college successfully and that she has kept focused. She’s never strayed from the path of wanting to help children and be a teacher.
When she said hello and thanked me I noted the love and compassion in her voice and I thought of how lucky I was to have a daughter who has always cared about others.
I thought of so many things in the short time I was there and I won’t bore you with it all. Mostly, I thought of how much I love her and how grateful I am that my daughter has turned into such a great kid or I should say young adult.
Sometimes when you step back and take a close look at your kid you realize what real success is about. Real success is being the best parent you can be and getting a chance to enjoy the end result (A great kid). Real success is seeing that your kid will have a positive impact on young children’s lives. Real success is seeing that the baby you created twenty two years ago has become everything you hoped she would be (A tremendous person). It turns out I don’t need a magazine to tell me what success is about after all! It also turns out that the business leaders in Success magazine are right, you should value family (especially your children) and you should appreciate life’s simple moments.
