The whatsapp profile picture of my friend Geraldine reads: "Blowing out the other person's candle will not make yours shine brighter."
Society has it backward. My view of success has changed. I have come to realize that true success is about living from the inside out. I don't see it as a failure anymore if I don't make a certain income or get a certain job. As part of this new paradigm of success, I have stopped comparing myself to others. I don't care how much money people make or how "perfect" their life seems.
Like many of us, I lead a busy life. I want to accomplish a lot. I'm tenacious in pursuing my goals. I feel successful when goals are progressing or at least I know I've given them my all. As a recovering workaholic, admittedly I still have a lot I want to achieve in my life.
I now view it this way: success is when I give my all, then let go of the results. Whether or not I land the job, or any other goal, each outcome offers an elegant lesson. As painful as it feels, sometimes you try your best and don't succeed. Though failure can be a blow to your ego and heart, learning to deal with it successfully, without getting hopeless or cynical, is a sign of a truly powerful person.
Of course, expectations have a lot to do with our happiness. It is one of those life lessons that is hardest to learn. To the extent that we think our happiness will come from outside things or even other persons. Disillusionment always seems to follow when we expect someone or something else to make us happy.
The more I look within myself and not to other things or persons, the more I experience a sense of personal peace and satisfaction. I am slowly but surely shifting my mind-set to focus on what I do have and what I'm grateful for in life, not what I'm lacking.
Society has it backward. My view of success has changed. I have come to realize that true success is about living from the inside out. I don't see it as a failure anymore if I don't make a certain income or get a certain job. As part of this new paradigm of success, I have stopped comparing myself to others. I don't care how much money people make or how "perfect" their life seems.
Like many of us, I lead a busy life. I want to accomplish a lot. I'm tenacious in pursuing my goals. I feel successful when goals are progressing or at least I know I've given them my all. As a recovering workaholic, admittedly I still have a lot I want to achieve in my life.
I now view it this way: success is when I give my all, then let go of the results. Whether or not I land the job, or any other goal, each outcome offers an elegant lesson. As painful as it feels, sometimes you try your best and don't succeed. Though failure can be a blow to your ego and heart, learning to deal with it successfully, without getting hopeless or cynical, is a sign of a truly powerful person.
Of course, expectations have a lot to do with our happiness. It is one of those life lessons that is hardest to learn. To the extent that we think our happiness will come from outside things or even other persons. Disillusionment always seems to follow when we expect someone or something else to make us happy.
The more I look within myself and not to other things or persons, the more I experience a sense of personal peace and satisfaction. I am slowly but surely shifting my mind-set to focus on what I do have and what I'm grateful for in life, not what I'm lacking.
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