Success

I started thinking about success. Success is a very hard word to define. Success in the dictionary means the favorable termination of attempts. It is also defined as the attainment of wealth, position, or honors. I don't like these definitions; as a matter of fact I don't really like the word success. The way we use the word is so wrong to me. Sometimes the word is used right, say in a football game, "that play was a success". Fine, that works. But the way we use it in talking about wealth or position is just so negative. Interesting concept, success being a bad word. I think the word success is mostly used to put others down. "If you don't study, you cannot be successful", "Bill Gates is successful because he makes money". How much money do you need to make to be "successful"? Nobody knows. Some would say enough to make you happy and well off. What if you can be happy and well off without a lot of money? Is that success? Why not? Do you have to make money to be successful? Most people say yes. That could be part of it, but I don't think you have to make money to be successful. I think people think you need money to be successful because what they are looking for is happiness. They think that getting money will make you happy. But what they don't realize is that they are not looking for money; they are looking for happiness. Most of the time people are not looking for money, but for something that drives that want for money. I think that drive is usually happiness or is related to it, which is fine. What people want reveals what their purpose is (see post on purpose). I don't think you need to make a lot of money to be successful. So how is success reached? I think the way to be successful you have to find what you want in life, not what you think you want, and work for it. To be successful you have to figure out what drives your life, what your purpose is, and work for it. You can have a purpose and never work for it, and that's why some people aren't successful. It's not that they don't want to do something, it's just that they don't work for what they want. You can also work for something and have no purpose, which is why others aren't successful. They work for what they think they want, but not what they really want. How do you find what you really want? Look at the things you want, and try to find out why you want them. Whatever that 'why' is, is probably what you really want. I think that success is different than what people think it is. So how do you live a successful life? Honestly I don't know. What I do know is that we need to find out what our purpose is, and keep on working for it. We have to keep working for our purpose, and then we will have success.
-Smart