Defining

I get a lot of flak in my day to day for not sticking to the societal standard life escalator.  Partially because I had a lot of shit thrown on me early on which has made that less accessible, and also due to the fact that I have never been interested in that cookie cutter life plan. 

It results in a lot of people asking if I'll ever be successful with anything, because to them, if I'm not following that life escalator, I'm not doing anything.

But when you break it down, I succeed at so many things.

For a year I've published at least one book every month, by myself.  Regardless of the money it makes, that requires a ton of work and self discipline.  I continue to work on this, with plans of doing even more in the future (which I am actively working on).

I've survived abuse, with very little support.  Instead, when I speak up about abuse to my blood relatives, I'm met with more abuse.  I have learned to communicate and be a healthy partner the hard way, and while I do have some side effects of abuse, I think I've processed it fairly well, and have gotten stronger in the process.

I fight every day, to give my daughter a healthy upbringing.  To be a parent.  To encourage good habits in her, and make sure she is taken care of.

I cultivate not just one, but multiple partners. I learn to balance them, and help them as much as I can, on top of everything else in my life.

In many ways, I am far more successful than most people that make these comments to me.  Than the people they compare me to.  I've done much more in my life, fought through more, accomplished more, and learned more.

Success is not a cookie cutter. and we cannot define things so narrowly.