Success Story

Lately, I’ve been wondering about success and what it means to be successful. It all started when I was walking through the pasture and I stopped to look at a moss-covered rock. I noticed that small herbaceous plants were growing on it as well. This got me to think about succession, the ecological kind, which naturally led me to think about success and how the two words were related because my mind tends to wander as I wonder. Upon closer inspection of the plants, I could see they had small flowers with five yellow petals and palmate leaves in groups of five. I was looking at a tiny cinquefoil said to represent love, money, health, power, and wisdom. I was so struck by the simplicity of the sight because I knew it was anything but that. This once bare rock has been changing over the years. It is a perfect little example of ecological succession.

First, it was just an inorganic cold slab. Then it became covered in lichen, a composite organism of fungi and blue-green algae. The lichen was able to break down the rock and accumulate debris which created soil. The small amount of soil was more than enough for moss, a small annual plant, to grow. As generations of lichens and mosses died more soil was made which formed the foundation for more complex plants to grow. This is how I found the rock. Maybe it will end here because conditions won’t allow for more growth or maybe it will take many more lifetimes for all the stages to be completed. Who knows. Perhaps, one day if left alone, this rock and the overgrazed pasture it calls home will become a forest full of trees. Regardless of which stage it ends at, I consider this succession a success.

Rock, Lichen, Moss and Cinquefoil

Stages of ecological succession

Here’s an interesting fact, both words come from the Latin word “succedere” meaning “come close after”. It evolved to the word “successes” which means “advance, a good result, and a happy outcome. Hmm…none of it has to do with the current popular definition of success - the attainment of wealth, respect, or fame. Surely, this definition is limited because it would mean that so many of us would not and could not be considered successful. I refuse to believe that, but instead, I prefer the archaic meaning of the word which is the good or bad outcome of an undertaking. Isn’t that interesting? We can experience both good and ill successes. So if you endeavor to accomplish something and fail then you are still successful because you completed the process. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It’s not the destination, It's the journey.”

I’m not going to lie. I would feel really bad about myself if success was only about money, respect, and fame. I have none of those things. Well, not in the eye-catching, jaw-dropping, envy-inducing way at least. I do, however, have a multitude of successes. I have started and finished a lot of things. Some with amazing results (like training Ute) and others not so much (like the blouse I sewed). Either way, I’m proud of myself for all of it. Horses come easy to me but they didn’t always and sewing is a skill I’m desperate to master but just need to keep practicing. Just like I fell off the horses and got back on, I’ll have to rip a lot of seams every time I sew a crooked hem. It’s all about building skills by layering lessons learned from both doing and failing. Perhaps, I should just carry some cinquefoil in my pocket. It’s said that when you carry cinquefoil you can be granted any of the five things it represents - love, money, health, power, and wisdom. Aren’t those the very things we try to succeed in getting? Well, that seems too easy. Maybe I’ll just carry it as a reminder to keep trying, knowing that all of my successes -past, present, and future- are rooted within me.

Wondering about success made me pose the question, “How do you define success?” I received several answers ranging from humorous to heartfelt. Two responses were single words - Joy and Happiness. My sister Michele said, “Doing what makes me happy, it then trickles into my everyday life”. Not one person defined success as achieving high status, earning a large income, or becoming famous. I was both pleasantly surprised and relieved. Could the dictionary have the wrong definition? I believe we all just want to do what makes us happy. Ideally, we would all be doing the things that spark joy and in our glee, we would find wonderful success in all areas of our lives.

Michele at The Wizard of Dollz being successful doing what makes her happy

So I got to thinking about what the little five-petalled flowers represent and how amazing it would be if it could grant us all those things but wondered if we would truly appreciate them if it is all about the journey. Think about all the things you’ve accomplished during your lifetime and remember from where you started. You wouldn’t have found love without going on awkward first dates. You didn’t become wealthy without earning that first cent. Health would allude to you if you didn’t acknowledge exactly what your body needs to thrive. Power doesn’t come unless you first realize and develop your strengths because we all know that you can’t be the best without first being a beginner. Lastly, you never would have become wise if you didn’t ask that first “stupid” question.

We are all successful in our ways. Every single one of us has worked hard to achieve something. Some of us may have won awards for being the best in our chosen field while others nervously signed up to learn a new skill. Many of us may have overcome insurmountable challenges while just as many were happy to have the house clean for more than a day. Perhaps, a few of us tried our very best and failed miserably. Still, we all put forth our finest efforts and that makes us all examples of success. I hope while you were reading this you realized just how incredibly accomplished you are.

I think about the blank slate I once was and can’t help but appreciate the combination of knowledge and experience that has shaped me into who I am. My life has been interesting, to say the least. I’ve experienced heartbreaking trauma and once-in-a-lifetime thrills. It has been full of fun and hard work as well as blessings and disappointments. I have a life filled with family, responsibilities, hobbies, work, love, and friendship. Now if that’s not a success, I don’t know what is!