Lightening Online

11 comments:

1. Bettina, 27. December 2007, 10:14
   

   Right at this moment sucess is not having shot, stabbed or poisoned anyone during the family gatherings! lol

    
2. Ali, 27. December 2007, 11:15
   

   It sums up Success well for me too!!

    
3. Julie, 27. December 2007, 11:18
   

   I like the look of this blog, and its contents too. I especially appreciate the sincerity and openness about yourself. I would like to visit occasionally if I may - consider me a blog-mother.

   My very best wishes to you for the coming year
   Juie

    
4. Jenn, 27. December 2007, 11:43
   

   That was lovely to read. Thanks for posting it.

    
5. Christine, 27. December 2007, 16:02
   

   I love that poem. I used to have it posted at work (when I still worked) as a reminder that perhaps chasing the corporate dream wasn’t all it was cracked up to be!

   I like your new look!

    
6. Kelley, 27. December 2007, 17:56
   

   hmmm, there is one line that I really REALLY don’t like….

   ‘To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child’

   Those with sick children or children with disabilities would find that rather ‘off’. I know I did. We feel enough of a failure as it is.

   If that was changed to a happy child, a loved child or something similar it would be lovely.

   Success to me is seeing happiness in my childrens eyes. Not because they got something, but just because. That makes me feel truly successful (Oh and a pair of killer heels, but that is more powerful than successful!)

    
7. Sueblimely, 28. December 2007, 14:45
   

   I could not define the term better than this although I do agree with Kelley about the ‘healthy child’ However it does depend on how you define healthy - I am choosing it to mean a happy, content, loving child as this defines my own disabled child with Fragile X Syndrome very well. Using these terms he is ‘healthier’ than most of us Come to think of it, looking at the other definitions, he is probably more successful than most too.

    
8. lightening, 28. December 2007, 15:26
   

   I’m not supposed to be here so pretend you didn’t see me. However, Kelley, I didn’t want to wait to respond to your comment. Thanks for being honest with your feelings as it’s an important point to be aware of and I guess clarify from my own position. Firstly, I don’t consider a disability to be an illness. Personally I feel that people that have differences in their abilities to what we might term “normal” or “average” bring a wonderful dimension to our world. Just think for example of how many smiles your little boy has brought to people from all over the globe via your blog. What a gift. What an ABILITY. What a wonderful example of success!!! My favourite job I’ve ever had was one in a special school. These kids have so much to offer. I would be devastated if any of their parents felt that in some way they had failed because they had a child like that.

   It did get me to thinking about having a child with an illness like cancer or something. Would that make the parent unsuccessful? Of course not. But I can understand the tendency might be there to read it that way. I guess I read it as one possible way of leaving the world a better place. There are millions of ways in which we can all do that with a healthy child perhaps being just one of them. Another way might be to have a car that runs on biofuel or not having a car at all for instance. Not doing that doesn’t automatically make you not a success even though doing so is an example of how you *might* be successful. Am I making sense in what I mean here? I hope so.

   For me what stands out in this definition is that there is no mention of money, big houses, fancy cars etc etc etc as a measure of success. Instead it is more about what you offer to others. If more people in the world were like that - wow, what a different place it would be!!!

   Thank you to the others who have responded. I will get back to you. I’m just popping in in the middle of my holiday so don’t have a lot of time. But I still appreciate what you’ve brought to the discussion and will respond soon.

    
9. Kelley, 28. December 2007, 16:14
   

   Babe. Don’t worry about it. I thought about it after I responded and realised that I did so in haste and while under the influence of no sleep (Boo is in that phase again) and the stress of Christmas and putting up the cubby from hell.

   I know that is not what you meant, and probably not what the original author meant either. Sometimes I can be so touchy. Then other times I can refer to Boo as the ‘broken one’ in jest.

   Hope your holiday is more than awesome.

   smootches

    
10. river, 28. December 2007, 21:24
    

    I’m successful since I’ve made the world a better place by making a garden and planting at least one tree in every home I’ve ever lived in.

     
11. lightening, 6. January 2008, 14:06
    

    Kelley - glad we got that all sorted but don’t let that stop you speaking your mind any time. Honesty is fine with me (even if it is sleep deprivation induced). Misunderstandings can easily happen and it’s better to clarify.

    River - awesome!!!

    Sueblimely - so true!

    Christine - I hadn’t come across it before. It’s very thought provoking isn’t it!

    Jenn - I’m glad you enjoyed it.

    Julie - thank you!!! I hope you find time to drop by often. You’re more than welcome.

    Ali - that doesn’t surprise me at all!

    Bettina - oh dear, that bad eh?

     

Write a comment:

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate each and every one of them. If this is the first comment you have left, your comment will be held in moderation for approval so you may not see it immediately. Once your first comment is approved, all future comments should appear immediately. You can choose to receive any further comments by email. Simply tick Notify me of followup comments via e-mail.