I would argue, in fact, that true success is best measured unconventionally, by our ability to care about ourselves, our neighbours and the world in some tangible, deeply rooted sense, whatever our circumstances.
This sort of success is not something that will necessarily make front page headlines, living a small, conscientious existence will not make any of us rock stars, no one is going to remunerate us with bucket loads of cash for being a good person. And yet, I think that it is imperative that we cultivate the ability to care about ourselves and whatever work we happen to find ourselves engaged with, even if that is just the mundane, everyday tasks like taking out the garbage, making the bed or washing the floor.
When we treat those things like they matter, we are, by extension, treating our lives like they matter, and this sort of caring ripples out into the world, energizing it with the same care with which we attended to those mundane tasks. This is no small thing.
This sort of success is not something that will necessarily make front page headlines, living a small, conscientious existence will not make any of us rock stars, no one is going to remunerate us with bucket loads of cash for being a good person. And yet, I think that it is imperative that we cultivate the ability to care about ourselves and whatever work we happen to find ourselves engaged with, even if that is just the mundane, everyday tasks like taking out the garbage, making the bed or washing the floor.
When we treat those things like they matter, we are, by extension, treating our lives like they matter, and this sort of caring ripples out into the world, energizing it with the same care with which we attended to those mundane tasks. This is no small thing.
We must not worry so much about any lack of so-called 'greatness'--that which is everyday paraded in front of us in movies, magazines and on television, much of which revolves around the acquisition of money, the ultimate standard of success in a capitalist society.
We need to be more skeptical about money (and all the nonsense that it can buy) as the standard by which we measure our success in life. Life happens in our hearts, we feel most alive when we care for the life inside us and all around us. The presence of this sort of intimacy in our lives, is the real measure of success from my point of view.
We need to be more skeptical about money (and all the nonsense that it can buy) as the standard by which we measure our success in life. Life happens in our hearts, we feel most alive when we care for the life inside us and all around us. The presence of this sort of intimacy in our lives, is the real measure of success from my point of view.
Einstein said, "Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts." I think we need to measure our success not in terms of the material, but more in terms of the quality of our hearts and minds. We need to cultivate more faith in our own perspectives and listen carefully to the contents of our own hearts.
The degree to which we measure our success in life according to the standards of a society that, in many ways, seeks to divorce us from an intimacy with life, robbing us of our passion for living, is the degree to which we may have failed both ourselves, our neighbours and the world on which we all depend.
The degree to which we measure our success in life according to the standards of a society that, in many ways, seeks to divorce us from an intimacy with life, robbing us of our passion for living, is the degree to which we may have failed both ourselves, our neighbours and the world on which we all depend.
In the end, we need to define success for ourselves. This requires breaking free of the conventional ties that bind and venturing out into the unknown. It is an adventure that has the potential to inspire creativity and elicit innovative thinking. The results are our gift to humanity.
