"It matters not what you accomplish," said someone, "it matters only that you try."

I've been thinking about this. I'm pretty sure I was raised to believe just the opposite. Or, close to it's opposite. Two messages came through loud and clear. Both have haunted me for much of my adult life.

The first is, "It matters what you accomplish."
The second? "It not only matters that you try, but you don't seem to be trying hard enough!"

I'm pretty sure today, it DOES NOT matter what I accomplish. Only that I give it my best. Furthermore, I'm trying hard. And, this "hard" is enough.

I did not always feel this way, however. Which has been my source of unhappiness. I grew up believing, no matter how hard I tried, I could never quite make it.

It was an exhausting way to live, remnants of which haunt me still today. I suspect, too, most of you reading this were raised similarly. If you think about it, however, what could you ever do to make yourself more valuable than you are already? So, you try harder and harder still. And, all for what? To be more valuable? To be more accomplished?

Divine grace is that moment in life when the gift of who you ARE has freed you from the bondage of who you're trying to BE.

So, today, as Mark Nepo has so beautifully put it:

"Center yourself, and with each breath, put aside your accomplishments. Breathe deeply, and with each breath, put aside the things you haven't accomplished. Sit in the center of your being without these uniforms of goodness and know that you are as beautiful as a mountain or a river."

This is the secret of happiness.