Measuring Success: Here Comes the Judge

In my last blog I talked about measuring success. It's all relative, correct? What about when you (or me) is the judge?

It is human nature that we measure our (perceived) worth against that of our peers and family in any number of situations. Think wealth, looks, jobs, children, etc. Case in point: the Art Show.

On Saturday I am one of 3 judges of over 80 artists and artisans at a show in my area. Oh, No. What was I thinking? This is not a good idea for several reasons:

1] Everyone worked so hard and paid a fee to be there, so I believe they are all winners. How am I supposed to pick just a few?
2) The amount of time I have to consider all this work is short and (see above) no matter what their work looks like, they deserve respect for being there.
3) Who am I to be in charge of looking at this work and awarding prizes?

Once again, we are back to measuring success. Maybe the TRUE measure of success is to be in the moment and to be happy to be there. The Dalai Lama talks of relativity: the wealthy man can have a really rich meal and have indigestion; the poor man can have simple meal and know a full, happy belly.

I hope on Saturday I'm able to recognize efforts and hard work and encourage creativity in everyone who participated!