ok. i’m a day late. but, you know. it happens. no biggie. and i know that you all will forgive me as lina and i were hanging out with our german friends who came for a visit. but, now we’ve said goodbye for a while and the rest of the week will be back to normal. sort of. lina’s on spring break, so we’ve got 4 days of no plans together – and that feels amazing.  well, friends, we’ve made it to week five of the 18 rules of living series already! thirteen weeks of wisdom to go. but let’s get right to this week’s tidbit of how to live according to the dalai lama:

18. judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

so, perhaps success is not measured by how much we acquire, but by how much we give up. and by giving up, i think that it is referring to sacrifices, losses, and passion. how much are we willing to lose in order to gain? you know, the good old belief that nothing comes without some hard work and dedication. and a successful person is someone who has fought for their dreams and never given up.

in my opinion, success has nothing to do with how much money i make or how many things i have. it is not about power, or even respect or authority or recognition. in fact, success isn’t about getting things at all… it is about how much we give away. and, don’t you agree that in giving we actually receive?

the more successful we are, the more we have learned, struggled, fought, and shared. so, in an effort to inspire each of us, i have found some great quotes on pinterest that remind us to chase our dreams, to make those dreams come true by working our asses off, and, ultimately, giving back to the world a little of what we have received.

how do you define success? what makes up a successful life in your opinion?

love & peace. namaste.