FROM OUR READERS: How Do You Define Success?

Going to bed with a clear conscience, knowing I’ve been kind to all in the past 24 hours. —Yvonne Bodnar dorr, michigan If you’re a student who aced an exam after studying for it, your hard work made a success for you. A day without drinking as a person in recovery is a success. As a parent, watching your children thrive can be a success. Success is relative to whatever may be at hand. —Melissa Everett Berger Fort worth, texas When you’ve achieved inner peace despite life’s hardships and imperfections. — Nafia Tariq Ferndale, washington Paying all your bills on time. —Janie Archer griffin, georgia When a student comes in at the beginning of the year saying “I can’t” and leaves in the spring doing the “I can” like he’s been doing it all his life. —Judy Cheek wheelersburg, ohio In the words attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “[Success is] to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.” THAT is success to me! —Trisha Gonsalez jacksonville, Florida Using your God-given gifts to their full potential to enrich the world. Some can cook a perfect pot roast, some can sing songs that bring tears to your eyes, and others can build beautiful tables. All valuable, all blessings, and all examples of being successful at spreading your own unique type of joy in this world. —Alicia Webster ennis, texas Retiring early. —Fausto Pestana pembroke pines, Florida The most successful people I know are those who are called “friend” by all who know them because they are loving, kind, supportive, and generous with their time and talents. —Rebecca Friedrichs west des moines, iowa Completing one thing each day that will be a help or a blessing to another. —Jerry Reece wichita, kansas Success is sometimes defined in wealth, but it’s more about character. Those who are most successful live happy lives and have happy relationships. I am envious of those who can say they never said a bad word about anyone—people whom everybody likes and admires. —Karen Walla gilbertsville, pennsylvania