“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived–that is to have succeeded.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
What does it mean to be successful in life? Some people are born with exceptional talents that enable them to have a major impact on the history of the world, but most of us will never become famous or rich as a result of how we live our lives. Our names will not appear in history books, and we may not even become well known outside our immediate community. But that doesn’t mean that we are insignificant. Each and every one of us is precious and important in the eyes of God, and there are important roles for all of us to play.
Probably our most important role in life is to try to enrich the lives of others with whom we have contact. As children, our behavior has an important impact on our parents and other children. To be a good child in the eyes of our parents can make a major difference in the quality of our parents’ lives. When we grow up and become parents ourselves, the quality of our parenting will affect our children for the rest of their lives. In addition to the parent-child relationship, our relationships with friends, neighbors and co-workers all give us the potential for improving the quality of life for others. If we are able to be a good child, parent, friend, employer or employee, and citizen, we will, without a doubt, have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that to know even one life has breathed easier because (we) have lived, is to have succeeded. I agree with Emerson, but we don’t have to restrict our influence to a single person, or even to a few people. Most of us are in a position to make the lives of hundreds of people better because we have lived. For most of us, I believe that God’s assignment is to be kind, compassionate and loving. I think we are supposed to try to spread sunshine wherever we go.
Most acts of kindness and love take very little effort. Even by just wearing a happy smile on our face everywhere we go, we can affect a lot of people. A kind word does even more good, and an unexpected compliment can truly make someone’s day. There will be times in life when we stumble and need a helping hand. Once we regain our footing, we should look for others who have stumbled and offer them a helping hand.
The world can be a dark place, but there is not enough darkness in all the world to extinguish the light of a single candle. And a single candle can be used to light a thousand additional candles. If our candle should go out, we can always find someone to light it again for us, and we should use our candle to light the candles of those who are living in darkness.
Each and every one of us has the capacity to add a lot of sunshine to the lives of other people. And, in the words of Sir James Barrie, “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
