The Success of Others

I just got back in contact with Randy, an old friend from high school.  We had a great time back then, but unfortunately didn't keep in contact very well, especially after college.  Mostly my fault.  I've never been terribly good at keeping up with people.

Randy had a daughter a few years ago, Sophia.  I've never met her...another thing I regret.  But that's all in the past.  Randy's coming into town for a few days at some indeterminate time in the near future, and Sophia (and possibly his wife Nicole) may tag along.  I've resolved to sort out the lost time.

But the point of this post...

Randy's got a beautiful family in New Orleans, a city he loves, doing high-level design work at an architecture firm there.  It's a culmination of a life, up to this point, well lived.  And I couldn't be happier for him.  I don't know Randy like I used to, but he was always a stand-up guy, and I have no reason to think that's changed.  He deserves everything he's got.

That's the great thing about the success of others.  If you view it correctly, without jealousy, it can't help but have a positive effect on you.  Happiness is contagious, and your successful friends are excellent vectors.  Finding parallels between your successes and those of others helps cement friendships and leaves an indelible mark on your relationships. When others are successful, they become poster children for the fact that life, on the whole, has a way of working itself out.  Taking an honest look at their successes can help pave a path out of adversity, demonstrating that all things are transient; that poor circumstances will eventually give way to improvements.

Plus, everyone you know has, at least to some small degree, been shaped by their relationship with you.  You've stamped a bit of yourself into all of them, and the reverse.  So their successes are, to a degree, yours, and vice-versa.  We are all meandering through a sea of shared successes and failures, and we sink or swim together.