finally dancing

I had a conversation today about work...about ambition and promotions and what we strive for in our work. My recent perspective on this topic still leaves a few people with their mouths agape....given my background and my education how can I not want to succeed in the world of business? How can I not be driven to reach the highest peak, to face greater challenges...and to win? And my answer is this....for me, when I finally stopped focusing on all of those things...that is when I started to win....



I strive at work to create the best output, not because it may secure me a promotion or a raise or even a full-time job....I do it because my work could make a difference in one dog's or one cat's life and there is nothing more rewarding than knowing that.



I relish the challenge of learning to become a better photographer and a more accomplished writer....a challenge I am able to take on because with my new job, I have found space and time in my life to create priorities for myself outside of my corporate role.



As for reaching the highest peak....once on a Tuesday at two o'clock in the afternoon, while the rest of world rushed to meetings or banged out emails in a windowless cubicle, I, jobless at the time, sat atop a hill overlooking a deep ravine filled with autumn colours and a rushing river, reading my favorite Ernest Hemingway passage out loud to Sophie who sat beside me quietly in the warm fall sunshine. I honestly don't know how you get any higher than that.



I used to think that success in life was measured by your title at work, or the size of the house you lived in, or the kind of car you could afford to drive. Now I think that success is measured by how much dancing you do. I believe we are compelled to dance, alone in our kitchen or suddenly in the middle of the street, because sometimes we have so much joy in our hearts that we need to let it spill out in random, happy movement. And I have finally started dancing.