221. To Succeed
A poetry episode today... To Succeed by Ralph Waldo Emerson. A poem about success that completely reframes how we think about achievement and fulfillment.
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Transcript
Hello darling heart and welcome to this episode of the Drink Less Live Better podcast.
-:This is the podcast that helps you to see that drinking less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely or boring.
-:I'm your host Sarah Williamson and I decided to have a year alcohol free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back.
-:I'm here to support you with your Alcohol Free or drink less adventures.
-:You can follow me on Instagram @drinklesslivebetter and find resources on my website drinklesslivebetter.com I hope you enjoy this podcast episode. Let's get straight to it.
-:To Succeed it's been a long time since we had a poetry episode on the podcast and I don't know why I haven't shared this one with you before now.
-:It's a poem about success that completely reframes how we think about achievement and fulfillment.
-:Thank you, Ralph Waldo Emerson to laugh often and much to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection 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 this is to have succeeded.
-:It's a poem that I had on a small desk calendar at work over 15 years ago and I took that page and transferred it to my diary.
-:Every year since, I've moved it from diary to diary.
-:Yes, I do still use a paper diary.
-:This is the poem I see and read most often in my life.
-:I think this poem offers amazing wisdom hidden in what might seem like simple sentiments.
-:Shall we break it down a bit for analysis?
-:The poem opens with the mention of laughter.
-:Not achievement, not wealth, not status, but laughter. To laugh often and much.
-:I love that success might just be laughing.
-:When was the last time you truly laughed?
-:Not a polite chuckle or a social media reaction, but that deep, basically shaking laughter that comes from real genuine joy or absurdity or connection with others. Mine was yesterday.
-:A friend was poking fun at me for something I'd done really badly last week.
-:We laughed our heads off at the time and we laughed all over again yesterday, telling another friend all about it. Tears. Proper laughing, crying. I loved it. It was brilliant.
-:Let's never take ourselves so seriously that we forget to experience such fun.
-:The poem moves on to mention duality to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. Notice the distinction here.
-:Respect from the wise, affection from the Innocent.
-:These require completely different qualities in a person.
-:Gaining respect from intelligent people demands competence, integrity, thoughtfulness. But earning the affection of children?
-:That requires playfulness, authenticity, and the ability to see the world through curious eyes.
-:Most of us focus on impressing adults, our bosses, our peers, our professional networks.
-:But children are unforgiving judges of authenticity.
-:They're drawn to people who are genuine, who aren't performing or pretending.
-:If you can hold both intellectual respect and childlike affection, you're living with remarkable balance.
-:The poem then mentions earning the appreciation of honest critics.
-:This line makes me think we usually run from criticism, don't we?
-:We surround ourselves with people who might only point out our best sides, or we might avoid feedback together.
-:But honest critics, those who see our flaws and point them out with care. Those are gifts. They help us grow.
-:The poem suggests that success includes being the kind of person who can receive and appreciate difficult truths.
-:And then comes perhaps the most challenging line to endure the betrayal of false friends.
-:Notice it doesn't say avoid betrayal or prevent it. It says endure it.
-:This acknowledges a harsh reality that living fully, loving deeply and taking risks means you will sometimes be hurt by people you trusted.
-:Success isn't about building walls to prevent pain.
-:It's about developing the resilience to survive disappointment and keeping your heart healthy, open anyway.
-:Then the next part of the poem shifts to our relationship with beauty and others, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others.
-:In our cynical age, this feels almost radical.
-:We train to spot flaws, to critique, to tear down, but the poem asks us to be seekers of beauty and goodness. This doesn't mean being naively optimistic.
-:It means consciously choosing to look for what elevates rather than what diminishes, to leave the world a bit better, whether
-:by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition.
-:I love the scope here, from the intensely personal to the broadly social.
-:Your contribution might be raising one child well, or tending a small garden, or working towards social justice. The scale doesn't matter.
-:What matters is the intention to leave things better than you found them.
-:The poem concludes with perhaps the most powerful to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived just one life. Not millions, not thousands, just one.
-:This is success distilled to its essence, making existence a little easier, a little brighter, a little more bearable.
-:For another human being in our culture, obsessed with metrics and achievements, this poem offers a different scorecard.
-:It measures success not by what you accumulate, but by how you connect.
-:Not by what you achieve, but by how you love, not by your impact on the world, but by your impact on individual lives.
-:And that feels really important to me. Thank you for listening in today. Come back again next week.
-:Check out the show Notes for a link to a hidden podcast episode that will help you with your 5pm cravings and details about
-:my one to one life coaching and sober coaching programs. And P.S. i believe in you.
