We often measure
the success of our lives
by what we accomplish

But what if success was defined
by what we had simply been present to?

For me, I have been present
to a midday showing of big clouds
floating slowly across a blue sky.

I have been present
to infinite raindrops
falling from that same sky to the ground.

I have been present
to the soil
possessing the miraculous ability
to produce plants
that provide nourishment to the body.

I have been up close
to an innumerable amount of divine living things.
I have been fully alive and present while birds were singing.

And that bird I heard that day?
Another bird swung by sometime after
and landed on that same branch.
And then another one came along.
And then, another one.
A beautiful succession.
A continuum for all of time.

Life goes on and on and on in a billion different directions.
And somehow, I have been allowed to be a witness.
I have been right here in this life, all along.
I have been present.
Success.

(Morgan Harper Nichols)