Hey, man,
Good to hear from you again. And good timing. Your e-mail came in just as I was chatting with another friend, who's 1 one of those rough periods at work. I wish I had better advice.
You asked, "How do you define success?" What a 2 question!
In 2005, I made only $22,500 a year in Rocky Mount. Another two sportswriters, Travis and Jeff, in their mid-20s too, had come to Rocky Mount to leave Rocky Mount. We went out to 3 our games, and sent the final pages to the printer by our 1:30 a.m. 4. On the best nights, we'd play Wiffle ball in the 5 until 4 a.m., laughing and joking.
We all left there within a year, as 6. Travis eventually 7 a big-time job covering the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Jeff became one of the most well-known NASCAR writers in the country, with almost 200,00 Twitter 8.
Last time Jeff and I met, he said something about Rocky Mount. "I didn't 9 it then, but honestly, when I 10, it's probably the best time I've ever had in my career."
What is success? Buddy, I don't know. On those late nights, it was making good contact on Travis's curve ball. Now it's running a tenth of a mile 11 than I did last week. A year ago, I wrote a story and no readers 12 me about it, which these days is a success. But nobody said anything nice 13, so is it a failure? I don't know.
College students ask me for 14 every now and then Maybe that's success. But last night an editor at a publication I've been dying to write for 15 with the murderous words "This just isn't the right 16 for us".
Maybe it's beyond work. In June 2018, my dad visited and made it the whole weekend without falling while 17 to his wheelchair. To another person, 18 success might be a night sleeping on a bench without getting wet. You get the 19.
Maybe success isn't 20 in achievements; maybe success is a smaller calculation, something more like what Jeff hinted at.
Thank you for writing, old friend.
Mike
