What is Success?

What is your definition of success?  Money?  Fame?  Retirement?  Owning a big house or two?  How many of you said, it is what I am doing now?  Probably not many.

Last night, I watched the movie "Pele" about the world famous soccer player from Brazil.  It is a fabulous movie.  Want to know how much it made at the box office?  $27,000.  The movie was stellar with beautiful soccer plays.  By the world's standards, it was not a success.  It is sitting on DirectTV for the watching. The irony is Pele was exceedingly poor and didn't even have shoes in which to play soccer or a ball.  He used rolled up clothes or mangos to kick.  Yet, he went on to be one of the greatest players ever!  Had he let the fact that he didn't have the nicest shoes or a ball to play with, he'd have never made it!

My fiancé is another example.  He has been looking for work for over a year.  He was once one of the top dogs at Merck, pulling down over a quarter of a million dollars a year where he spent over 40 years in the corporate world.  At the age of 61, he was "let go".  Due to his wife's illness and years of no income, he has no savings and lives on his social security.  He is now relegated, at the age of 68, to applying to any-and-everything to find work.   He is bright, well-spoken, and educated.  Yet, he is 68 years old and because of that, no one even looks at his applications.  They see 40 years of experience and think "old" rather than "experienced".  A success story?  In his glory days, yes.  Today?  He is a storehouse of information and exceedingly vital.  He has much to give but no takers. Still a success? 

I've been writing for three years.  I am a teacher by day and blogger during my "off" times.  I have yet to make a dime for my writing.  Am I a success?  Again, if we use the world as a measuring stick?  Absolutely not.  I am a renter, have a car payment and no savings.  I went through bankruptcy and divorce.  What do my students think?  They see teacher and someone who cares; one who is willing to do whatever it takes to motivate them and prepare them for the journey ahead of them.  Success?

You see, in today's world of technology, big houses, fancy cars -- those are the physical markers of success.  But if we strip ourselves of those things, are we still a success?  Have we "made it?"

www.dictionary.com defines success as this:

1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.
2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like

3. a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors:
The play was an instant success.
4. a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc.:

She was a great success on the talk show.

 Hmmm, I see words like wealth, position, honor....Let's think about Jesus for a moment.  Did he have any of these things?  Let's face it, by today's standards, he was poor, treated like a common criminal and died at the age of 33.  There's no mention in the Bible of millions of dollars in the bank, so I think it's safe to assume he didn't have any.  Was he a success?  From where I'm sitting, his life has set an example and a movement for billions of people.  Some 2,000 years later, his message still holds true.  Love others, be kind, forgive, don't judge... Perhaps we need to rethink our hallmarks of success.  Maybe it's not money and things but rather, how we are remembered.  Would you rather be remembered for the things you had such as that 70- inch high-definition television and five bedroom house or the things that money can't buy -- truth --integrity--honesty--how you treated others?   At the end of the day, no one is going to look at our "balance sheet" except for God.  He is the only One who I care about pleasing.  I prefer to live by His definition of success rather than that of the world.  I may not make a dime from my writing but at the end of the day, it is here -- in perpetuity -- for those who want to read it. So there it is...my definition of success?  Sharing the gift I've been given with others.  What's yours?