WHAT WAS YOUR LAST OUTRAGEOUS SUCCESS?

So first, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you all for your tremendous support on my book campaign. I realized #1 best-selling author on my eBook version of Beyond the Bookclub: We are the Books we must Read.  Most of all, I am deeply grateful for feeling that I could ask for support (not easy for me) and receive it so generously.  I bow to you in humility for providing me with an “outrageous success.”

And you might be surprised about what this blog really wants to explore.

When I heard I the news I cried. Why was I crying? Relief? Gratitude? Joy? Sadness that my parents were not here in body form to witness that moment? From when I was a young child my mom would always say, “You will be a household word.”  I know how disappointed she was about the way her own desires and “successes” didn’t play out the way she thought they ought to have, and I had been her hope. Of course, it took me a good while to embrace that I could not be the one to hold the responsibility of realizing her dreams. I find myself still working on this. 

When I told my wise, young, new neighbor what had just happened he said, “Well now you can check that off your list.”  I laughed. I wondered if it had ever really been on my “list.”  I didn’t write this book for that reason, for sure. 

I know that in order to have impact, the way our world works, prestige and bragging rights seem to mark the idea of success and perhaps catalyze some outcomes of outrageous successes. I know that for my book to reach people, selling a lot of books and getting a lot of great reviews might help make that positive impact happen.  And I accept that this is only true for some whose work is meant to unfold in that particular way.  I give the credit to the Universe, and soul contracts.

Desire is a funny thing. Great spiritual teachers will agree that you’re only happy for a moment or two before the next desire sets in. This is because many of us base our happiness or sense of worth or contentment on realizing those desires; being famous, making a lot of money, having power and status.

The photo I provided shows Success written in the sand with a wave just about to wash it away. This is certainly an apt depiction of Success and Desires achieved. Over the years, as an actor people would say, “You are only as good as your last review.” Pretty fickle huh? What a way to evaluate your gifts and worth.

Where does the desire to be “successful” even come from? This is a complex question with complex answers. Is it hard-wired into us as humans? Does it have something to do with survival, and evolution, so we are compelled to strive for it? The concept of success is re-enforced in our society, schools, country vs. country. Competition, success, and failure hover over us wherever we are. Turn on the TV or your computer and the reminders will bombard you.

When I reflect on my life thus far, it really isn’t the awards I have received, the money I have made, or the status that may come with those things, that appear on my “list” of outrageous successes.

This is what appears on my list:

  • It is the dear friends I have made and with whom I’ve grown alongside.
  • It is that I have weathered life’s challenges and pain thus far and seized the opportunities that they presented me with.
  • It is that I worked hard and continue to work hard at being a good mom and wife. 
  • It is that I can appreciate and still be in awe at the magnificent natural world that surrounds me, and stay awake to the beauty and kindnesses around me. 
  • It is that I can recognize the magic of existence, the miraculous human body, and the creative force.

These are the outrageous successes I will try to remember each day.

And yet I am compelled to keep creating, to keep making a positive impact on a tender civilization that I am a part of.  So thank you again for supporting that innate drive in me. I hope I can do the same for you.

We are all made of the same Star Dust and we all must keep shining brightly.

It is our main reason for being here.

PS – The ebook is still on sale for just $1.99 ’til July 15th – Happy Independence Weekend to all!

2 thoughts on “WHAT WAS YOUR LAST OUTRAGEOUS SUCCESS?”

  1. Congratulations, Ruthie! I’m very happy for you and thankful for all of your hard work that you share so generously with others.

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