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| Because I love this picture |
There are many "rules" in this life. Expectations that are instilled in us from the moment we're born. My last post mentioned in passing what an acceptable career choice is according to said rules. According to society.
This time I want to touch on "success" which is one of the rules that is perhaps most ground into our minds and which is one of the few that many other "rules" revolve around.
Let's start with a question.
What is success?
According to the Miriam-Webster dictionary it is described as follows:
2 a : degree or measure of succeeding
b : favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence
3 : one that succeeds
I think if asked, most people would probably define it as 2b with a focus on the second half of the definition: the attainment of wealth, favor or eminence part.
Personally, I believe the word "success" is more personal than that. It's a word that one needs to define for oneself. My ideal definition of success would be doing what I love and getting paid enough money to support myself and my son (and possible family in the future) while still being present and a part of my son's/family's life.
Too many people spend all their time working and too little time with their family. My son is important to me, he means to world to me and I want to be there for him, with him, while simultaneously being able to afford to take care of him.
I'm not as naive as I sound (or maybe I am, sue me), I understand that making money takes work, work takes time, therefore time = money and that means that there will be time away from family, away from my son. But I also understand that there can be a happy medium if one is both willing to look and work for it.
Many people measure success on the value of one's material possessions and size of a paycheck. I think it's simpler than that. Success is measured by the happiness you instill in others and, most of all, your own happiness. I don't need a giant TV hanging on my wall (that doesn't mean I wouldn't mind having one) nor do I need a giant home. I don't need the latest smartphone or tablet or laptop either.
I'm happy being a good father and having a healthy relationship with my son. Caring for him and those I love are what make me happy. I'm working hard to make my dreams come true so I can spend more time with him and the people I care about and I'm working hard to one day earn enough to fulfill my ideal definition of success, but for now I'm perfectly happy with a basic definition. Making my son happy and taking care of him because doing so makes me happy.
The world views success in a very specific light and then labels us each accordingly. According to world, very few of my idols and personal heroes are successful. They don't live in big homes, they don't make millions, they don't show up on the cover People magazine, but if you were to ask them if they were successful odds are they'd say yes, because they're definition of success is their own and nobody can tell them otherwise.
Have you found your own definition of success? If so, what is it? If you've never thought about it, think about it now. Ponder it. What does success mean to you?
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