THE KEY TO SUCCESS
13 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in CULTURE
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure
is trying to please everyone”.
– Bill Cosby
Guilty as charged Bill! I believe that this is a common trait of most women, or at least the ones that I know. I’ll take some literary license here and assume that Mr. Cosby must have been having a conversation and commenting to Mrs. Cosby, (as she juggled the many duties of wife, mother of five, and back stage support of a major celebrity), that “you can’t be all things to all people”, “you can’t please all the people all the time” and other quaint sayings that point out that we can’t be 100% perfect in all we do. But boy how we do try!
This gives me a headache!
In her book Founding Mothers, “The Women Who Raised Our Nation” Cokie Roberts presents a social history of the women who courageously provided behind the scenes support and influence to our Founding Fathers; as our nation evolved from British rule to independence. Until I read her account of this piece of history, I never realized just how difficult life was in Colonial times; how hard and often short a women’s life was, and just how much their contributions aided a nation as it gave birth to freedom and liberty. Women like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Reed- Franklin (yes, a hyphenated name), Martha Washington and more, Ms. Roberts researched and documented the fascinating times and lives of the women who truly were the first feminists; they just didn’t know it, nor were they give credit for it.
1775 Portrait of Martha Washington
Always trying to please, but often falling short, we often feel like failures instead of patting ourselves on the back for all the contributions we do make as individuals, to our families, society, business and more.
The next time you are looking for a good read, look into the biographies of the women who helped shape our nation or our world. Appreciate the hardships they endured, the sacrifices they made and feel proud to stand among them.
Then, make a list of your accomplishments, acknowledge the other women who impact your life and the those women who came before you to pave the way for your future.
You go girl!
Dreama
