Patti Turner

Writer. Nurse.

  • Home
  • Writer
    • Musings
    • My Writing
    • On Writing
    • Words Worth Repeating
  • Nurse
  • What You Don’t Expect When You’re Expecting
  • Vegetarian
  • About
  • Contact
  • Log In
    • Register
Home » View from the Hilltop

What is success?

September 12, 2012 by Patti

While pondering life, love, the universe, and the meaning of life, it led me to wonder how one can measure whether their life is lived with success.  Achieve great things? Drive the Curiosity on Mars?  Make a new discovery? Accumulate wealth?  Devote oneself to charity or religion?  Since I’d already decided failure is not an option, I felt the need to define success.

How do you define success and the meaning in life?

While perusing some old books on my shelf, I happened upon this passage by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

What is success?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affections of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;
That is to have succeeded.

A beautiful definition, so simple in theory, yet so difficult to achieve.

In my job as a nurse, I get the opportunity to make a person’s life easier every day.  To make a difference, give them a positive experience in scary circumstances, and end my shift knowing that person breathed easier because I lived.  That’s a tall order.  It’s hard to keep your game face on every day when you’re overworked, tired, haven’t eaten, or feel stress from home.  But every time I walk into a patient’s room, I know I have the power to make a difference.  I must succeed.  Failure is not an option.  If I can’t accomplish this, then I will have failed my patient, the patient’s family, and myself.

Another item I’m working on is appreciating beauty.  My view from the hilltop is spectacular.  Each day brings a display of light over the mountain view unlike any day before it. I’ve learned to sit and watch the changing perspectives, solely for the sake of appreciating the beauty around me.

The rest:  working on it.

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Words worth repeating Tagged With: Failure is not an option, Hilltop reservation, nurse, Ralph Waldo Emerson, success, View from the Hilltop

View from my Hilltop – slideshow!

August 23, 2012 by Patti

Slideshow: View from my Hilltop  is live.  Thanks for watching!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Shutterbug, View from the Hilltop Tagged With: fall colors, Hilltop reservation, NJ, pics, sunset, Verona, View from the Hilltop

Welcome!

I'm Patti Turner, labor & delivery nurse by day and writer by night. I enjoy writing fiction, reading, cooking vegetarian food, traveling the world, and photographing everything. Read More…

FOLLOW ME ONLINE

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Twitter

Tweets by @pattiturner

Tags

birth bonjour change ciao dreams explore fall colors fetal demise Florence flu flu shot France health Hello Hilltop reservation hopes influenza Italy Labor & Delivery labor nurse meatless Mondays my writing NJ nurse nurse problems Orvieto Paris pics pitch pregnancy recipes RN Rome sick Siena success sunset travel photos vegan vegetarian Verona View from the Hilltop write writer ¡hola

Instagram

Load More...Follow on Instagram

Categories

  • Girls Trip 2015
  • Health
  • Labor and Delivery
  • Musings
  • My Writing
  • Nurse
  • On Writing
  • Recipes
  • Scotland
  • Shutterbug
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegetarian
  • View from the Hilltop
  • Views from the Hilltop
  • Views: around the world
  • Words worth repeating
  • Words worth repeating
  • Writer

Gallery Tags

Girls Trip 2015 Photos of Scotland

RSS Feed

 Subscribe in a reader

Copyright © 2019 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.