Svashtar said:
Wow, what a great thread! Whoever thought of it must be a genius!
Seriously, comparing yourself to the accomplishments of others can be very destructive.
Regards,
Norm
Yea it could be very destructive if you just dealt with the success that some folks have had in their lives more than others.
But standing back looking at what I did to make a living over the years....
When I finally learned my trade and what it was about I became one of the more successful in the field I chose.
Lots of young men without a high school or college education wind up on a farm somewhere and a few thought that I was headed that way.
I've said before here that I was a big ol' dumb kid that didn't have a role model to follow so I had to make my way the best I could, at least I got to choose my trade instead of my trade choosing me.:thumbup:
I suppose I could've owned my own shop and made a couple of million and been better off materially than I am today but I doubt very much if I would've been could've been happier.
But success isn't all about just making a living...
I've had the time off and the freedom to walk the woods and fields. fish in all kinds of rivers and streams from the muddy tu*d creek for catfish to the clear mountain stream for trout.
I had the time to commune with nature and get close to the beliefs of my people.
Hunted lots of different game and chose to let the only deer go that was in my sights one year in order to pick up one that had been shot the day before and had her stomach and part of a hindquarter eaten by a possum but was still good meat that would've gone to waste if I hadn't of made that choice.
When I was younger I often said that if I could save the life of even one person then my role here would be fulfilled, and thanks to the Great Mystery and Grandfather I have.
Actually I've been put in a place to save people physically from self destructive behavior several times as well as pull a couple of youngens out of a swimmin hole when they got into trouble by not paying attention and disobeying their siblings.
Nothing is more gratifying than saving another person's life IMO and I'm proud to have been in the right place at the right time to do so.
One of our friends in our Sweatlodge circle lost his daughter in a car wreck a few years back. His step daughter was driving and his other daughter was right next to the one killed, terrible one car accident on a wet slippery country road at night.
He later came to me and thanked me for being there for him and saving him from his self destructive tendencies at the time. At the time he was hurt so deeply that he would have rather died than live after that and was seriously considering suicide.
And I don't have a clue as to what I did, I was just there for him and his family.
Other accomplishments I've had a hand in is saving a couple of marriages for folks who were deeply in love and yet had made mistakes. The couples were able to forgive one another and go on with their lives and are still living together and very happily married once again. Money and material things just can't compete with things of the heart and life, at least not in my opinion.
But I'm just a man, and an old cantankerous bastard a lot of the time.
I don't know what the Great Mystery and Grandfather sees in me but help me they have, as I can't take the credit for doing any of the things I've had a hand in. I was just in the right place at the right time with the right words and genuinely care for people.
I feel very fulfilled and very successful to have come from where I came, to where I am now.
A great deal of success lies in the journey.:thumbup:
