*True Success*

I hope that my achievements in life shall be these:
That I will have fought for what was right and fair,
That I will have risked for that which mattered.
That I will have given help to those who were in need.
That I will have left the earth a better place for what I've done and who I've been. (C. Hoppe)



To laugh often and love much;
To win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of oneself;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiam and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -
this is to have succeeded. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

I was thinking about success this morning as I was reading one of my nursing journals that I receive monthly. I remember using Mr. Emerson's beautiful poetry back in the 70's to describe in an essay we had to write in nursing school. We had to describe why we wanted to be nurses; what did we hope to achieve in our careers? This was a paper for my instructor, Miss Barbara Bailey, RN, who I wanted so much to emulate as a nurse. As I review this beautiful poem now, I can safely say that I have, for the most part, achieved it.