CommentarySuccess....as a writer, or baseball player, or anything
"Success, in my view, is the willingness to strive for something you really want. The person not reaching the top is no less a success than the one who achieved it, if they both sweated blood, sweat and tears and overcame obstacles and fears. The failure to be perfect does not mean you're not a success."
It's easy to look at someone else who's farther along in their careers than we are, and think, Man, why can't I be there already?
It's easy to look at someone else who's living what was once our dream, and be jealous, and think, Man, why didn't I take this one last shot? What could have happened?
It's easy to look at our own lives and feel discontent because someone else is living something different.
But that's all just too easy.
It's hard to look at someone else who's farther along in their careers than we are, and decide to bust our butt twice as hard as we already have been, so we can be there one day.
It's hard to look at someone else who's living what was once our dream, and having the guts to admit that that dream simply wasn't mean for us, and accept that what we're living now is another dream entirely.
It's hard to look at our own lives and feel peace, because heck, we live in America, and we get 3,000 advertising messages a day that try to make us feel like crap for not having more things. We live in a land of more.
It's hard to be at peace with who we are.
Mostly because we easily forget Whose we are. Or at least, Whose we can be.
We become His, that helps. A lot.
Has helped me a lot, and I've lost dreams aplenty.
QUESTION(S):
1. What do you think it means to be successful? (No right or wrong answers here; just curious.)
2. Who's the guy who said that quote that opened this post? Hints: It's a former pro football player, and I got the quote form someone's Facebook page.
[picture by Mark J. Rebilas]
Reader Comments (6)
In addition to what you mentioned above, I think one has to pursue something that has intrinsic value to that person and that one also has to recognize the intrinsic value of the effort itself.
Great blog, BTW. Awesome People Series is a great idea, and there is great merit in what you said in the previous entry about not letting some of the things that are most important to us prevent us from relating to people.
Quote I believe is from a certain small, scrambling Minnesota Vikings QB who took the team to three Super Bowls but never won one.
Success definitions can be so beautiful and so broad.
Business one that is famous: “Success is the progressive realization of worthwhile, predetermined, personal goals.”
But how about: Success is living in such a joy-filled, open-hearted, giving, serving and living for others kind of way that you make the heart of God smile!
Addymac, good thoughts. I'd agree.
Thanks for the compliments :) Glad you liked the other post, too.
Wallstreet, come on smartsauce, you gotta give me the guy's name!
Good extra definitions though. Thanks for sharing.
Was trying to give others a hint so they would remember the man...Fran Tarkenton! Actually went on to be a pretty sharp businessman if I'm not mistaken.
Winner! Frank Tarkenton it is!