Success is often judged by the end result or the output. You are successful student if you graduate. A sports team needs to win a championship. You are a good employee if you completed the project. A relationship is successful if it leads the altar. A marriage is successful if you reach milestone anniversaries. Living 100 years is pretty successful- right?
Much of life is spent looking forward and aiming for the next goal. We want the bigger and more impressive home and car. We are saving to take that tropical vacation. How big is our stock portfolio? We need to save for retirement. Once I lose 10 pounds I will be a successful dieter.
As a Christian, I have heard the sermon based on the scripture “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.” We are encouraged to focus on the end and make sure that we are living a life that will be found worthy when we meet our creator face-to face. That is not necessarily a bad lesson but unfortunately, it focuses on the end result and lines up nicely with the American view of success.
After we successfully reach a goal there is sometimes a celebration. People will encourage you to “enjoy the moment!” For that brief period of time there is a feeling of acceptance until, very quickly, the moment passes. It’s time to set the next goal.
Each year we watch as Hollywood actors vie for a few select awards and sometimes we hear the phrase 'Even if you don't win, It’s an honor to just be nominated.” We don’t’ really believe that. The day after the award is given we forget all about the other nominees. They were not successful, at least not according to our version of success. They were close but they did not reach the goal.
Yesterday I did some laundry, I made it to the grocery store, I hugged my son, and I told my husband I loved him but I never did get the bathroom scrubbed. I guess I was not successful. I have an advanced degree and it was fun to celebrate when I graduated but no one wants to talk about that anymore. I have had some success in my career path including breaking sales records and submitting successful proposals but I am currently not employed so I am not successful. I love God, I pray, I attend church services and I give when the offering plate is passed, but I am not one of the church leaders so I am not successful there.
Is personal success is only measured by the awards I receive or the titles that I have attached to my name? Who determines the point system? Am I really only successful if I find a group of people who will determine that I have met their criteria? Is it possible to be successful without the approval of anyone else?
What if I don’t accomplish another notable thing in my life? Will God be deeply disappointed in me? I don’t think so. He is not the one who has set these systems in place. Ecclesiastics clearly examined all of these issues and determined that none of our definitions of success were correct. In fact, they are worthless. God really doesn’t care how much money is in my 401K and He certainly doesn’t care if I lose 10 pounds. If I continue to allow myself to be judged according to society’s measure then I will always feel unworthy and lacking. I want to take myself out of the contest and release myself from the mental stronghold that tells me "I can't be successful until someone else declares it."
Today I am declaring that I am successful. Period. I do not have to list any reason except that God created me and He is directing my paths. I am succesful because I am following God. I don't need to wait until my funeral to take stock of things and wait for the approval, I have it RIGHT NOW.
VISION
ReplyDeleteTucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of row and row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags will be waving. Once we get there so many wonderful dreams will come true and pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restless we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering - waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.
"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry, "When I'm 18, when I buy a new Mercedes Benz, when I put the last kid through college, when I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"
Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.
"Relish and enjoy every single moment!" is a good motto. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.
So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
…Robert Hastings