A measure of success

It’s funny what people notice about the people around them. Some people notice faces or clothing, or even body size. I guess I’m weird. The first thing I notice about other people is their hands.

Waiting in line at the grocery store or the dry cleaners, I notice look at people’s hands. Are the fingers long and thin, or are they short and stumpy? I check out the fingernails… the well manicured, the greasy, the artificial…

What I notice most is people’s jewelry, or lack thereof. I always seem to notice that fourth finger on the left hand. Why it is that I am so intrigued by others’ marital statuses is a source of curiosity for me. I guess I’m driven by my own picture of success.

To me, true success is true happiness. True happiness can be found by finding someone to share your life with. Finding someone to share your life with means marriage. Marriage means a wedding ring. Therefore, success = jewelry.

Many people are unhappy in their marriages. I do know this. To them, that band may represent a prison, or a deep regret. However, the optimist in me likes to think that most of them are ridiculously happy, and feel the same way I feel about the person I have chosen to spend my life with.

I wonder if anyone has ever looked at my hands and thought that I was unsuccessful. I guess it doesn't matter, but it still makes me wonder.

In the mean time, I need to re-teach myself: Success ≠ Jewelry.