Defining Success

Defining Success

Everyone is looking for success in life but what is it?  What parameters are we using to define success in our lives?  If our success levels are based on external appearances then we are setting ourselves up for disappointment and defeat!

When a huge organization like the Brahma Kumaris invites 200 delegates to a retreat in Mt Abu, they don’t define their success by the amount of donations received, or even the number of people served.  If one evaluates success using physical terms and variables, then today we will consider ourselves successful and tomorrow perhaps not as those variables fluctuate.  Success for the Brahma Kumaris is defined by the number of people who have been touched, leave with smiling faces and happy hearts, a vision of hope, a sense of purpose, a feeling of sharing, caring and compassion for humanity.

Many children are pressured by parents and peers to ‘succeed’ in school.  Millions of dollars are spent on high-grade child education whereby parents attempt to provide a ‘sense of self-worth’, a ‘credible identity’, and a ‘status’ to the child.  But consider what message we are conveying - that a paper certificate can fix it all, open doors and guarantee you a lifetime of pay?  It’s important to encourage and draw out hidden potential but not to be fixated on degrees, titles, accolades and the likes.

Is the gage of a child’s success that he goes on to construct a power plant later in his life even though he has no social skills to build harmonious relationships?  Or that a person is able to cure grade four cancers yet is unable to remain emotionally stable.  One may have conquered Mt Everest but have they conquered the hearts of those around them?
When we begin to work on our soul we begin to work on the root layers of our confidence and self esteem.  Starting from this place makes us adept at learning what really matters – the ego is contained – and we are able to become balanced spirits.  Both right and left-brain are in synch.  We learn physical skills and also at the same time are able to better manage our emotional state.

Success is not necessarily the destination; it is equally about the bumpy journey!  Learning to remain stable amidst crisis and chaos; to smile after a twenty-hour workday, to continue to give love despite someone’s jealousy, to be able to forgive those who criticize you, are all successes for a person on a spiritual journey.

Each one of us has a spiritual ‘bank balance’.  The yogi (one who practices daily meditation) ensures that his balance is topped with love and blessings from all those around him.  If he is not winning hearts and minds whilst he crusades his way to inner, personal joy and happiness then something is amiss.  His progress cannot be deemed successful.
The road to success is not necessarily one that is paved with gold.  Hardship and penance can sometimes be equally worth the ride.  It’s the small tests that we have to pass and the little things we need to do that bring smiles and miles in the relationship.  Sometimes we wait for big events to come along so that we can express our sentiments, but in fact there is no moment like the present.  Win the moment!  Win the heart in front of you right now!

Therefore success is not about arriving at a destination, but making the most of life on all levels at every moment.  If we are unable to live the moment, we will always be living in the future…”When I graduate… When I get my first car... When I buy my first house...” These thoughts actually perpetuate a lack in the soul and a pattern is indented whereby I will not be satisfied until I have met the goal (and perhaps also created another one to urge me on!)

Be successful in this moment, with those around you.  Otherwise you may eventually look back on your life of goals attained and targets achieved, but wonder why you didn’t have a happy life or enjoy fulfilling, loving, caring relationships.
At the end of the day, we won’t be remembered by those we love for our paper qualifications or our material attainments - we’ll be remembered for how much we loved, cared and made a difference to their lives.

Learning to be patient, tolerant, more loving, kind and caring are the little successes we need to master in our lives even though we may come across as a ‘failure’ in the eyes of others.  The ego lives off worldly successes, such as physical power, possessions, prestige, pennies, position and pay, as that is the measure of success in worldly terms.  But now we need to create a new league of our own, one of total self-respect – this takes humility.

Success based on self-respect is one in which I am totally focused on my innate qualities and virtues.  In fact the yogi is more worried about accumulating those positive traits than the above-mentioned p’s (which by the way are the result of the inner work).  There is a deep conviction that the virtues I exercise and the results that arise from that are what I the soul will carry with me and none of the physical p’s!

It’s time… to review how you rate your success – is it based on spiritual terms or physical terms?  Take out time to study for a ‘master’s’ degree in the area of soul development – knowing that whatever work I do on my soul will go with me eternally.  Don’t chase after the temporary as then you will surely be deceived when you next look at your soul bank balance!

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