Morning Motivator - What I Believe... (the Response of a Reader)

"I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate."
- George Burns

Thank you to one of my good friends and BEST supports, Arlene Raines. You are the best! Here is Arlene's response to a recent Morning Motivator...

I have come to believe, for myself at least, that "SUCCESS", as measured in striving for and acquiring the car, house, spouse, beach house, etc is ILLUSIVE. We think acquiring those things means we have ATTAINED success. And we think attaining "success" will make us HAPPY. But, once having gained those things we set our sights on, we RESET our measure of success and are AGAIN quickly striving to attain something we don't yet have...a nicer car, bigger house, a better job, etc., i.e.,...."THE WORLD'S VIEW OF SUCCESS".

The reason I think we reset our measure of success is because acquiring the trappings of success DOESN'T really make us happy or content. Oh, it's FUN to have nice things and to be admired by others for those things, at least at a surface level. But, I think what we all really want, deep down, is to be LOVED, VALUED and ACCEPTED for who we are, not for what we do for a living, how nice the house is we live in or for the things we have. Unfortunately, we OFTEN mistake or accept the admiration and envy of others for love, acceptance and value.

I think we only "get there" when we are no longer worried about IMPRESSING ourselves or others with the trappings of "success". I think we only "get there" when we can see the INTRINSIC value in ourselves as well as the intrinsic value in others, not just in those in our circle of friends, not just in those who can help us out professionally, but in those who aren't "there"; the homeless man on the street or the garbage man who serves us every week; those who can't help us at all.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
When we can see little difference except for opportunity or circumstance between ourselves and the man who collects our garbage or the mail room clerk at our office, or even the homeless guy on the street, I think we have attained LASTING "success".

When we can be happy and content with who and where we are TODAY, then we are truly "successful" in the things that matter most in life. Of course, being content DOES NOT mean we have no ambition, no need of improvement or that we don't need to strive to do a good job, to be a good boss, a good friend, a good spouse, a good parent, etc. It doesn't mean we no longer seek to achieve or better ourselves.

It just means we can be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves at the moment, even without the perfect job, car or house. Interestingly enough, when we FORGET about how others judge success and focus on real "success" in living life, our achievements will come and be sweeter than ever. TIME and PATIENCE will get us many of the things we "want", things the world says we need to be "successful". The difference is that the JOURNEY will be sweeter and our happiness won't depend on whether we meet someone else's standards of success.

Well, there's my "sermon" for the day. Thanks so much for your inspiration, both with the Morning Motivator and as my friend. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

- Arlene

Thank you Arlene... I couldn't have said it better myself! =)

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com


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