How Do You Know if You're Successful?

Maybe I am just "thinking too much" — from time to time I have been accused of that — but how do you really know whether or not you're successful?

The weird thing about most humans is that we are always striving for success; striving to have more and bring ourselves to a higher level. We continue to do this, even after we're reached whatever goals we might have set for ourselves.

I'm absolutely aware that people have different levels of ambition. Mine happens to be relatively low, I admit it.

I look around at people, and so many are striving to get more, even when they have everything a person could possibly want. And so, I find myself wondering if we actually have any kind of grip on what it means to be successful?

Is there ever a "stopping point?"

Along the path of life, I have met plenty of people who have declared to me that they were looking forward to retiring, at which point they intended to focus on their hobby of painting, and on playing golf.

Yet they "retire" but they don't really retire because they... "discover"... that there is still more they want to accomplish.

In no time at all, accomplishment replaces enjoyment and two years later they have not lifted a paintbrush and have played perhaps three rounds of golf.

Doesn't exactly sound like retirement to me.

Has society "trained" us to eternally work to such a degree that any desires to just relax and enjoy ourselves have been bred entirely out of us?

Of course, I recognize that what I am describing is perhaps more of an issue here in the USA, where being a workaholic is more often admired than regarded as somewhat unhealthy and obsessive behavior.

And here we can "bring the bunny back around" because the counter-argument invariably runs along the lines of "but don't you want to ACCOMPLISH things?"

Well... perhaps I regard learning to paint, and improving my golf scores while relaxing as accomplishments, in their own right...

Personally speaking, "success" isn't something I measure in terms of accomplishment, so much as whether I feel reasonably secure and connected to the people around me... both of which are intangibles.

All in all, I am pretty sure I have a good sense of what my success looks like, even if it is meaningless to others!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

How about you? Do you know what "successful means to YOU? Does it compare to the public image of success? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2024.11.16 00:19 PST
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