Reflective Pieces

Some people would define success as how much money or possessions one has, but that is not the true meaning of the word. After all, money does not necessarily lead to happiness, but success does. Success could be different things for different people. It all depends on what goal is set by someone in order to achieve happiness in life, whether it is education, career, family, or love. Success is achieving a goal or a set of goals established by oneself, and as a result experiencing happiness and a sense of accomplishment.

Success is achieving happiness in life and is not purely represented by money. When I was sixteen and coming straight out of high school and into the working class, I had the impression that success was purely measured by how much money I made. Therefore, I spent ten years working 40-60 hours a week and working my way up the chain of management to make as much money as I could. Along the way, I had two wonderful children and married a wonderful man. Although I was making decent money for only having a GED, I felt guilt for being away from my family for most of the day. But I pushed on, thinking that I had to make as much money as I could in order to live a happy and successful life. But when my daughter unexpectedly passed away at the end of 2008, my perception on life and success took a drastic change. I realized that all the money in the world could not take the place of those precious moments I could have had if I spent more time at home than I did at work. Success is not wealth, and therefore success for me now is to spend as much time as I can with my family and creating as many memories as I can. Because in the end, money did not bring me success and happiness, but time with the people I love did.

Success can often be characterized as victory or triumph. When setting short term goals such as accomplishing a task at hand, a sense of triumph and victory is commonly felt when the goal is achieved. When my fiancé and I finally set a date to get married after being engaged for nearly three years, we foolishly gave ourselves a mere two weeks to plan our wedding. As the reality of all that needed to be done in such a short time set in, I seriously thought about calling it all off and pushing the date back once again. But I was determined to pull it all off and make the wedding a success. As each stress-filled day arrived, I persevered through and accomplished the tasks at hand. When the wedding day arrived, I could not believe all that was accomplished in such a short amount of time. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and truly was one of the best days of my life. When it was all said and done, looking back, I felt an incredible sense of victory and triumph. Not giving up when I easily could of was a great feeling of success, and I am so glad that I pushed through and persevered. Being that success ultimately is achieving happiness in life; even if we couldn’t pull the wedding off in time, I would still have a level of success by being with a wonderful man that makes me happy.

What other people perceive as success is not relevant for every individual. For example, many people view success as purely having a lot of money and possessions, but everyone has an individual opinion of what success is in one’s life. An example of this misconception can be found in the book, Three Cups of Tea, where a well-known climber of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary states, “I don’t know if I particularly want to be remembered for anything … I have enjoyed great satisfaction from my climb of Everest. But my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics. That has given me more satisfaction than a footprint on a mountain” (Mortenson 129 and 130). Hillary’s climb of Mount Everest is what people believed to be the great success of his life, but as he explains, building schools and medical clinics brought him more satisfaction, therefore making that the great success of his life.

Success can be explained as many different things, but the common factor is that true success results in happiness. Success to one person may not be success to another. Success is what someone makes of it. It is all about setting a goal in one’s life that will ultimately result in happiness, whatever that may be. For some it may be being educated, finding true love, or building strong relationships with family and friends. If, at the end of my life I have tons of memories and experiences with the people closest to me, then I will feel truly successful. Whatever someone’s goal in life for success is, I hope it is achieved so that person can experience a real satisfaction of happiness and achievement in life. True happiness is deserved by all.


 

Mortenson, Greg, and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print.