(Photo Source: Webshots.com – Success is not found in a gold medal but in the exhilaration of conquering the waves)
Many of us take success to mean a measurable achievement in terms of money, career or physical possessions. We look up to those who are rich and successful. We see success as an end goal. We mistakenly believe that the more possessions we have, the more secure we will feel.
In our efforts to continually become more successful, in our efforts to reach the pie in the sky, we often find that we lose sight of what is important around us and what is the here and now.
“The standard of success in life is not the money or the stuff - the standard of success is absolutely the amount of joy you feel”. – Ask and It is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks
Failure To Experience Joy
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Many of us fail to see that we can be very joyful this present moment. Instead, our minds prefer to focus on the problems that we have or the fact that we are far from reaching our goals We feel miserable, choosing to wallow in self-pity and despair.
Many of our desires are like that. They start from some discomfort or a feeling that we are lacking in some areas. We then begin to search for the things that can fill the void. We then decide that we need to have these things to be considered a success.
If we succeed in getting what we want, the desire or hunger dissipates. Sometimes, we may even cheated for what we have attained has not brought us the level of satisfaction that we first anticipated. And so, we develop a new set of higher desires and goals. It is a never ending goal.
Live Fully While Getting There
Indeed, the message here is not about holding back your natural desires of wanting to improve your situation in life or asking you not to continually challenge yourself in self improvement. What is more crucial is to not to forget to enjoy yourself on the journey, even while trying to get there. It is still important to have a direction, an aim, but what you should not forget is to live fully right now.
In having a single-minded focus to reach a narrowly defined goal of success, you may find that you are missing out on much happiness. Half of your life may have already flown by. In the first half, you may have already missed out on many family birthdays, time to bond with your kids while they were young, and loving moments spent with your spouse. What, then, will become of the other half?
“Success is about a happy life and a happy life is just a string of moments. But most people do not allow the happy moments because they are so busy trying to get a happy life.” Ask and It is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks
See Success In Every Moment
It’s time to reach a new level of awareness. Success is not measured by the end goal but the anticipation and excitement that arise in its unfolding. To have reached success, as I know it now, is to see Success in Every Moment: The Letting Go of Our Egos, The Laughter in Our Children, A Reciprocal Act of Loving Kindness By Our Spouse and Friends, The Expansion of Our Hearts to all Living Things, and The Opening of Our Minds to Infinite Possibilities.
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This was a great post, and boy did I need it today! I love what you said about being able to experience joy in the now rather than focusing on what’s wrong about our lives. Thanks!
This is the kind of writing I like to see on A Better Wold group.
See my Surfing Boats and Ships website, while you are having fun surfing the web.
Your pal in cyberspace on one of the best Islands in Eden, the garden of Earth within our gifted universe - as it is above and under the sky
Hello Jen, thanks for the positive feedback. I am glad that it came at an appropriate time for you. If you are going through a tough time, do chin up! Know that there are lots of people out there, including myself, who cares for your well-being.
Hello Amnon, do check your email in another hour or so. It really does seem that we share some common interests
I used to be a wakeboarder and waterskiier. My husband shared the same love for water sports too! I must admit, it had been hard in the past few years, to go back to the hobby that used to occupy my weekends, with my kids so young. Still, I cannot deny I never quite forgot the adrenalin rush for having bettered myself each time with the wake! Hope to be able to get back to it soon i.e. if I can get my hands off the keyboard!!!
With much love,
Evelyn
I couldn’t agree more about your message of success Evelyn,
I gave up the idea of the mindset of goal-setting and adapted the idea of meandering with purpose. Working with intentions and personal agreements while listening to my heart has brought me a great deal more peace and happiness and I stroll on my journey. Being in the flow, creating and attracting the things I desire, laughing when I have become too serious, and being grateful for everything in my life is my definition of success. I’m not always there! LOL
I stumbled you too
Cheers
Lorraine
www.powerfull-living.biz/blog
Yeah, Evelyn, absolutely!
I think this is one of the major problems of Western culture - it is goal centered, as opposed to Eastern culture which is path centered… all that competion we have from the very childhood… you have to be first or you are worthless…
It takes quite an effort to recognize, and than much more effort to change… I knwo I’m not there yet, there is still alot to work on - but I’m trying to enjoy the process
Misha
Mapquest Driving Directions
Great post!
Glad to see you’re spreading the prosperity consciousness!
To Your Success,
Tony
Hello Misha, LOL…I cannot vouch that generally, the younger generation from Eastern cultures are path oriented. It is more an individual choice actually. In fact, because virtually all of us have been encouraged to strive for success since our school days, we are taught to be goal oriented. We are taught that it’s a “dog eat dog” world and that we must compete for economic progress. With modern living, we are also conditioned to focus on materialism.
Luckily, from growing up with our previous generations, some of us have been exposed to ideas like meditation and Buddhist teachings on living simply and in the present. It is therefore not a totally foreign idea. As it is often said, many of us have simply forgotten about connecting to our Spirit or soul and for those who have decided to embark on the spiritual path, like myself, we are invoking our lost memories.
Thanks Tony and Lorraine, for your feedback. I’m also not there yet in guru status or enlightenment. I’m simply sharing my journey and what I’ve learnt, after being in so much misery and suffering for the longest time. I recognise that it is now my duty to let others know that they can walk a lot easier, with a lighter load.
Namaste
Great article Evelyn. I especially liked the shift of moving to seeing success in every moment. I believe this is moving to a higher level of identity with success. We see the spontaneous achievement of our intentions when we realize detachment and non-judgment. Beautiful writing and I love the quote by Emerson. =)
Nice one. You know, Success, perfection and love are things that we pursue without ever really knowing what they are or whether they exist.
My philosophy is just to get as much joy as i can from everyday without analysing it.
But having said that; Success is doing what you want when you want to do it.
I sang opera for many years and while in Torino Italy, I met aftera performance The Fiat chief Gianni Agnelli. A multi millionaire and by all measure succesfull.
But he said to me ” I would give anything to do what you do”. “I support the arts by buying and watching, what I realy want is to create”.
A beautiful person.
You see, create something that others can get joy from; Now there’s success. The Baldchemist
Don’t delude yourself that Eastern culture is any different from the West. Most in South East Asia and The Far East have lived under suppresion for centuries.
I live in Thailand; The smiles hide another truth.
Just give to others what you wish for yourself. Cults and Religions are the demise of the World. The Baldchemist