Success doesn't come to you, you go to it.

This was said by Marva Collins - and she is an inspiration. Really.

"Marva Collins - the teacher who successfully challenged the system and opened her own school for African-American children in Chicago.They were called learning disabled. They were considered bad kids who just didn't want to learn. But Marva Collins refused to believe it. She saw potential in all of them."

I was a special needs teacher for thirteen years and seeing potential where others might see none was my life-blood, without in any way meaning to sound worthy and nauseatingly mawkish. It was such rewarding, exhilarating  (frustrating, exhausting, draining...) work...I loved it and it wore me out. Eventually.

Excuse me while I have a little laugh to myself about this poster below!

 Spot the deliberate mistake...ref. yesterday's uncharacteristic rant about spelling...Sigh...

No, don't you all worry. Quirkyworks is NOT going to turn into an inspirational, motivational, navel-gazing, nausea-inducing, energy-sapping, sigh-making, toe-curling...Coca Cola advert...I mean, blog.

It's just that I AM attending a seminar, over ten sessions, examining The Nature of Success - as I mentioned yesterday. I'm interested in reappraising my opinions about what it is that constitutes success for me.

At the moment, I think that  I'm going through life, lucky though I am in every way, with a vague undercurrent (and sometimes a raging torrent) of dissatisfaction because I don't consider myself to be A Success.

Perhaps I should grant myself the same understanding and encouragement I gave to my pupils for all those  years?