Success, what does that look like? No one really knows exactly, it is different for everyone. Yet, we all know what society says it must be.  According to society, success is an upward movement.  You always move up, never go down, in order to succeed, you must climb the corporate ladder, or build bigger and better.  No one ever talks about how sometimes you crash.  Sure, you hear celebrities and other ‘successful’ people talk about their meager beginnings, of their struggles at first, but then it is up, up, and away to money, fame, or fortune.  I like to think that I wanted to rebel against that notion when I was younger, but if I am honest, I probably had very little confidence in myself to set big goals for fear that I would not accomplish them.  When I was in my mid-twenties, I did set goals for myself, or should I say a ‘bucket list’.  These were the things I wanted to accomplish before I left this earth.  The list was simple, three things.  I wanted to own my car, own a nice set of pots, and milk a cow.  I am not sure why this was so important to me, but it was.  Throughout life, I checked these items off and at 40 years of age, I milked my cow and the list was complete.  In my mind, I was a successful human.  My TBI, up, up and now I can walk and function.  This set a trend and a habit for me.  Fast forward to my most recent challenge, TBI, grief, and PTSD.  I have learned that success does not always look like an un upward climb.  Sometimes you stumble, but it is the getting back up that is the success.  Sometimes you fall, but it is the willingness to try again that is the success.  Sometimes, you are a flat line, but it is the continued urge to move on that is the success.  Sometimes, you are spiraling out of control, but it is the fact that you hold on for the ride that is the success.  Life’s true successes were never about going up, up, and up alone.  Much like the picture above, success is a wild ride, filled with twists and turns, ups and downs, and a variety of colors.  Success is different for any individual, so do not let anyone demand from you what that is supposed to look like.  We are all a work in progress and as I have learned, we should not look for perfection, only progress.