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Today's
Meditation:
The most
successful people I've known haven't been successful in
ways that "society" deems successful-- they don't
have huge bank accounts, they don't have legions of
adoring fans, they aren't CEO's or presidents of
companies, they aren't million-selling authors or
musicians. But they're wonderful parents, great
teachers, exceptional at their jobs, well loved by
neighbors and communities, and they're leaving legacies of
kindness, compassion, hard work, dedication, and love.
It's
kind of sad to see that so many people depend on things
like rewards to measure their success. Does an
insurance agent need to win a national award in order to
be successful, or does that person simply need to do their
job very well and serve their customers when their
customers need it? Does an author need to win a
national book award or sell millions of copies to be a
successful author, or is the fact that a book is finished
and done well success enough? I honestly don't know,
because the other side to the argument is that after all
that work, a return on the time invested would be nice. .
. .
But
"would be nice" is important. A lot of
things would be nice in life, but aren't necessary for us
to feel good about ourselves and the lives we're
leading. If I define my success by what "would
be nice"-- more money, awards, compliments from
others, etc.-- then I'm going to have a very hard time
seeing myself as successful
We're
all going to be successful in many things, unsuccessful in
others. And that's okay. Even if I don't
"succeed" at something, I can learn from it and
apply those lessons to other experiences, and in that
sense my unsuccessful attempts will be successful.
Let's not let what we've learned from others about what
success "should" be diminish the successes that
we have all through life, each day that we're alive on
this planet.
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