Redefining Success Half Way Through
When your girlfriend doesn’t feel she is enough.
It’s minus 13°C today in Stockholm, but I am cozy behind a French window sipping herbal tea after a yoga session with my teacher, Anna.
The guidance she provides in her yoga classes has been instrumental in pushing through my physical and mental limitations. I should tell her how grateful I am, gazing at her settling on the floor opposite me.
She shares with me the impact her ongoing pro-bono work as a non-violent communication facilitator has in her municipality. She loves helping people grow.
But, she grapples with a persistent sense of guilt for not bringing enough money into the household. Her husband, who relies on her advice for every important professional decision he makes, is the breadwinner.
At 48, she should be able to earn a decent living and not depend on her husband, she goes on.
Why does being a great yoga teacher, doing important work for her community, and acting as a career coach to her husband still make her feel like a failure? Why is money the main, and sometimes the only, measure of accomplishment?
The one-size-fits-all concept of success needs to be redefined.
