Success

Most people I know have a need and deep seeded desire to do one thing, succeed. The problem? What does that word really mean and who defines it? I mean one could take the easy way out and let Ms. Webster define it, or even more often let others around you define it. But what is it really? I have met many people from all walks of life and find that when they are asked this question the answers are as varied as the people.

Some will say having money is success, others will say a prestigious job. And I have heard a gamete of others; fame, love, children, education, partners, properties, toys, experiences, acquaintances, sexual encounters, adoration, praise, being published, being known, social circles, societies, memberships, travels, food, shelter, freedom, abolishment of others or ideas, laws made, laws broken, evil undetected, evil conquered, clothes, things, owning, being owned, marriage, winning, hoarding, control, and the list is infinite.


But the truth I have found is that none of these are true success in any one's mind. Oh you might shake your head and strongly disagree, but please wait and hear me out.

The reason why there are so many different things that represent success to just as many different people is not because they are different in the way we casually think. It is due to the things they value, the societies they grew up in, the things they found lacking, what they admired, and ultimately what they grew to believe was of highest importance. And the way they came to these surmising are just as unique as each person, but the true reason is not.

The real reason we want to, long to, must succeed is ....
because we need to feel we mattered.

We need to feel, and if at all possible know, that as tiny specks on this grand planet in this vast universe and the great and splendid beyond, we made our mark, we did something that mattered, and that our life thus has value and meaning more then a mere flower that has bloomed and died. That we did not just live and die but our life had meaning and worth. And thus I am forced to realize that to succeed is not a mere word or description in a book full of explanations, but the soul crying out, " I was here and I mattered". And we all need that feeling for nothing leads to despair more quickly then the feeling of worthless existence.

With this new vision and take on a word so often thrown out and about in judgment and categorization, I now do not dismiss this as a frivolous generic word. I see it instead as a very real part of humanity and who we are as a species. Because of this I look at success as so much more and handle other's view of it as sacred to them and try my best not to trample or destroy it. For to do so is to destroy and possibly ruin the soul's chance to leave in peace when the time has come and not only leave in peace but leave with a satisfaction that the life they had, whether hard or easy, mattered.

And so I go out among you, fellow creatures and souls, wrapped in understanding and wish you all the very best and greatest success you can find!