Understanding Of The Meaning Of Being Successful

A few months ago, I was sitting on the couch and was occasionally attracted to the sudden changes in sound or colour on the television show my parents were watching. The one scene that caught my attention took me out of comfort and placed me into a seemingly endless wilderness. It was not one of those mind-blowing scenes, it simply encapsulated the lives of rural villagers in China working their entire life to master one irreplaceable skill for a living. Unexpectedly, they looked more satisfied than anyone that was sitting around in the house. For a moment, I questioned the taxonomic rank in the world: “Why can’t these people be considered successful by society? I would say they are successful. ” I was not able to explain why I teared up, but I wished that I were them. Looking around, aren’t we all living and working hard to eventually be labelled as successful?

Success, by its nature, is defined as the unreachable goal. Success, to me, is equivalent to getting 100 on the blue sheet of paper we get every term, getting accepted into Harvard, getting our names to appear on Wikipedia, or getting recognized for accomplishing impressive acts. I compared myself to the word success. I compared the villagers on television to the word success. The comparison was more like a contradiction. As I looked into the future, I could only vaguely see the shimmering word through the fog in a distance. Perhaps this is the reason I teared up, would I ever reach this magnificent place? Unlike most destinations in life, there is no guide in the route to success. True, there are successful leaders who give motivational speeches on how to become successful, yet there is never a realistic step-by-step book that will deliver me to the place I desire to be in. Every finger points toward separate directions, guiding people to the point of success, but how exactly will I get there? I felt lost in this land of possibilities. If only, I thought, it was as simple as mastering one skill in my life and staying away from societal expectations.

For a period of time, I ignored the questions that bothered me as I researched my post-secondary options. The word success soon revisited me in a text message: “You will definitely be successful in the future. You will not even remember about the test you did poorly on today. ” For once, the word “successful” seemed remarkably closer to where I was standing and the fog began to disperse. The past connotations of success no longer appeared, but was instead ambiguous. I realized that success is not defined by society nor the people around me. In every personal race of life, the route is different for everybody, the finish lines are located at different destinations, and it is never a permanent finish. There are no restrictions to the idea of success because it is a self-defined goal that continuously challenges our new self to propel forward in life. Although there are no set definitions for success, it is the diversity in its definition that gives everybody a unique character. So why did I tear up when I thought of success? It was the fear of facing the obstacles as I step into society, it was the fear of failing, and it was the fear of not being labelled successful. Looking back, I aimed for the success that is expected from our society. Today, I am aiming for the successes that will define my own life when I look back in the future.