So true! I love how you bring Russell’s comments into this post and I also really appreciate that you are, by virtue of posting, helping others to see that the idea we have been encultered to, i.e. “Work as the measure of a successful life”, is a fallacy that more often leads to a feeling of consistent failure and not measuring up.
If we took the time, as another thinker/writer, Malidoma Some, says, to appreciate the gifts that we all bring to society, we would all feel more successful, relaxed and experience a deeper feeling of belonging in the world.
“Whether they are raised in indigenous or modern culture, there are two things that people crave: the full realization of their innate gifts, and to have these gifts approved, acknowledged, and confirmed. There are countless people in the West whose efforts are sadly wasted because they have no means of expressing their unique genius. In the psyches of such people there is an inner power and authority that fails to shine because the world around them is blind to it.”- ― Malidoma Patrice Somé, The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community
