What success really is

What is success?

This is a real classic. It may seem old to people like me, but younger people may see these ideas as refreshing.

Success according to Ralph Waldo Emerson is:

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To give of one’s self;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.”

So true isn’t it? Notice the obvious – there’s nothing in Emerson’s material that mentions money, stocks, condos or investment portfolios.

Here’s another material that’s worth studying. I received this from international speaker Dr. Olda B. Madsen. I shared the same speaker’s platform with him many years ago:

SUCCESS – What is and isn’t

What is success? It is many things to many people.

A few signs of success:

• Success is closing the door to your office at the end of the day with a smile of satisfied contentment.

• Success is looking forward to getting home and seeing the people you love. It is being mentally and emotionally free to share yourself with them and to be interested with them.

• Success is being loved by the people you love.

• Success is sitting down to pay the bills and knowing that you have enough money to cover them.

• Success is knowing where to turn when it seems that there’s nowhere to turn.

• Success is waking up in the morning and feeling good.

Success is not:

• Success is not calling home from work saying you are going to miss dinner.

• Success isn’t hurrying home to watch television.

• Success isn’t all work and no play.

• Success isn’t burning the candle at both ends.

• Success is directly related to having a balanced life. If any one area is out of sync, all areas of your life will suffer.

And so the question now is, are you successful so far?

Here’s my personal take on this success business. At the end of the day, has what you’ve achieved made you a better person or has it made you a bitter person? Has your life achievement brought out the best in you or has it brought out the beast in you? Are you happy and at peace to see the results of your achievements?

You and I need to judge our success by what we had to give up in order to get it.

But keep in mind that, ultimately, God has not called us to be successful. God has called us to be faithful. Faithfulness trumps everything else.

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