How do you measure success?

In 8 days I turn 50.  Was I successful?  Really?  At what?

A common measurement is the size of a person's house, the worth of his car, the amount of money in his bank account.  How successful his children are, the status of his marriage, the person he marries, the job he has.

I can't say with any certainty that I was successful in any of these measurements.  I can say I've done my best work.  I can say I've given each of these metrics I've full consideration and I've tried really, really hard to look good on these grounds.

But I have not been successful.  Maybe its been 50 years of learning and my success is just around the corner.  Or maybe, most insidious of all, I've been following the wrong dream.  I've been living up to an artificial metric that does not really matter.  Unfortunately, I think I've been following the wrong dream.

So now what?

Well, every once in a while, during these 50 years, I've got it right.  I stayed with the sick person.  I stood up for someone who was being mistreated or slandered.  Every once in a while I would play a board game, throw a football or Monopoly with my kids.

So for the big swath of 50 years, I was a failure, but every once in a while, I hit a home run.

Here is to home runs.  Lets hope I get the next few years right.