I am one of those who always measure progress in life. I repeatedly ask myself this question - have I earned this existence. Have I made use of all my capacities to the fullest? Have I made my life worthwhile. The running fear in my head is whether I would look back at any point in time at my life and regret not having done something or not achieved something. Am I winner is the question. And almost always the answer is - no, there is so much more I could have done.
One of these days as I was ruminating about this, my mind threw up an important point. We all come from different back grounds. Our actions and thoughts are influenced greatly by the environment that we all grew up in and everyone has different priorities. So one man's idea of success in life is not necessarily accepted as success in the eyes of society. And so society decides to agree that the most paid/the most famous people on account of their work are successful. But I have a different thought on that.
Everyone is a winner, in their own right, every one of us a winner.
The The dad who carries his daughter on his shoulder to show her the sights of the city is a winner. The son who fights his way through the Diwali rush to be with his mother is a winner. And like this every one of us is a winner in our own way. Put a CEO in your position and he would not be able to bring the joy and satisfaction you bring to someone in your life. All the money in the world will not make up for the time you spend with your old parents.
The problem is that we are fed everyday with information that compartmentalizes success/achievement in life within a very few things - majorly professional achievement and financial success. And our poor mind that is hard wired for survival, follows the herd, as this is a definite survival tactic. It begins to believe that we are winners only if we have something done in those areas alone.In the process, everything else one has actually achieved is discounted and we start worrying that we are failures.
Ultimately I think the best way to measure if you have succeeded is to see if you are happy on a daily basis. It is to see if the people in your life are happy in some way because of you. If both these are happening, I guess you are a winner. So its all winners mostly!
One of these days as I was ruminating about this, my mind threw up an important point. We all come from different back grounds. Our actions and thoughts are influenced greatly by the environment that we all grew up in and everyone has different priorities. So one man's idea of success in life is not necessarily accepted as success in the eyes of society. And so society decides to agree that the most paid/the most famous people on account of their work are successful. But I have a different thought on that.
Everyone is a winner, in their own right, every one of us a winner.
The The dad who carries his daughter on his shoulder to show her the sights of the city is a winner. The son who fights his way through the Diwali rush to be with his mother is a winner. And like this every one of us is a winner in our own way. Put a CEO in your position and he would not be able to bring the joy and satisfaction you bring to someone in your life. All the money in the world will not make up for the time you spend with your old parents.
The problem is that we are fed everyday with information that compartmentalizes success/achievement in life within a very few things - majorly professional achievement and financial success. And our poor mind that is hard wired for survival, follows the herd, as this is a definite survival tactic. It begins to believe that we are winners only if we have something done in those areas alone.In the process, everything else one has actually achieved is discounted and we start worrying that we are failures.
Ultimately I think the best way to measure if you have succeeded is to see if you are happy on a daily basis. It is to see if the people in your life are happy in some way because of you. If both these are happening, I guess you are a winner. So its all winners mostly!
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