The Meaning of Success

If I accept the Oxford-Webster definition of success, which is “achieving wealth, respect, or fame”, then I can count the successes or the near successes in my life on one hand.

In high school, I won my school’s public speaking contest. I proudly wore the first-place ribbon on my sweater throughout the evening after I announced to my family at the dinner table, “I’m going to regionals.” I could hardly eat. I wanted to run, jump, scream, or whoop it up.

However, when I got to regionals and stood on stage in that much larger high school auditorium, I wasn’t nearly as confident as in my hometown, and I forgot a line midway through. I came in 2^nd. Tilting my chin down instead of lifting it up, I berated myself for forgetting that one sentence. I was so disappointed. My confidence melted as quickly as chocolate left in the sun.

I have had other near wins. An 8^th place finish at a state 12 K run. A 4^th place finish in a beauty pageant when I was 10 or 11. A finalist in a writing contest. Sylvie was a bestseller on Amazon, but quickly lost its status after a good run.

In Japanese culture, success can be understood through concepts such as Kaizen –the pursuit of continuous improvements over time to achieve long-term success. If I accept that definition, then I think there are more successes I can add to my list such as my graduate degrees and certifications that took dedication, time, and commitment to complete.

In Māori culture, success has multiple meanings such as strengthening cultural identity or being in good physical, emotional, and spiritual health. If I combine that meaning, my success rate would be a tiny bit more. My daily yoga and meditation practice could count. Right?

Buddhism has many views on success, including that it is impermanent and destined to fade away. I once read a discourse from the Buddha’s teaching on not defining success because “nobody is a success.” I kind of like that one.

Success probably means different things to different people. For some, it might be achieving a certain level of financial stability. For others, success may mean a personally fulfilled life, raising a happy family, triumphing over a significant obstacle like beating cancer, breaking a world record, or how many followers they might have on social media. Maybe it’s just doing the best you can until you know better, and when you know better, you are better.

For me, success has come to mean loving myself with all my flaws and shortcomings. For all the things I should’ve or could’ve done. My quirks. My mistakes. My slipups, blunders, lapses in judgment, and even when I forget something (like that time in high school).

“In a world where you can be anything, be yourself.” Anonymous

Enjoy the Passage of Time.

Sharon

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