Success is not always measured in how much money you have in the bank or what type of job you do. True success is felt in the heart and is personal to each individual.
For me, success has been raising three handsome, conscientious men who work hard and love their family! Success is hearing my son say, “Mom, you’re the greatest mom!” That’s success!
I measure success through my education. For many years I pursued my education and kept a low-key at work, never wanting to get too involved with work except for putting in a good day’s work. My priority was my family! Although, don’t ask my sons, they remember when I put them to bed before the sun went down in the summer while their friends were outside playing in the street so I could study for an exam the next morning. Oh, and by the way, I passed that test with an A+! I took the boys to my school so they could see my grade posted on the wall: Hermelinda Ramsay—A+!
I am the only one of nine children to finish high school and attend a University! Friends teased me for many years and called me a “lifetime-student” because it took me so long to finish. After attending five schools and moving numerous times I finally graduated. Does it really matter that I took the road less traveled? Isn’t what is important the fact that I now hold an MBA?
I’ve had friends climb the corporate ladder very quickly at the expense of their family. When a person’s job becomes the focus of their priority the balance of life is off!
There’s nothing wrong with climbing the corporate ladder, but not at the expense of loosing your children to drugs or whatever else is out there, or missing out on their childhood. Those precious years go fast!
I am successful because I am not an alcoholic as my DNA predestined me to be! I never became a gang member or a heroine addict as members of my family. I did not die in my mother’s arms because my liver was mush from Cirrhosis as my sister Connie, or die in an alley with a needle in my vein like my brother Paul. And I could tell you about other family members but it’s too painful-you’ve heard enough! I will die old and see my grandchildren’s children play, and I will read them the Spanky the Dog stories I’m writing and watch their little bellies wiggle as they giggle.
Success-what is it to you? Is it having a sports car, mutual funds, or owning multiple properties? That’s all good in God’s earth. My success is one of maternal instincts and personal strength to rise above my past.
Success has been defined differently with each passing decade. I am in the fifth decade of my life and I am now pursuing many of things I always wanted to do: start a business, write a historical-romance novel and a children’s series, and obtain a PhD; I have many friends and a tight-knit family and I smile when the sun goes down.
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