Bring to mind yourself as a child, you could recall praying to God asking for things like more pocket money, or a car that you love, or even good grades and topping your class. Now as an adult do you ask for the same things? Most people would answer ‘no’, can you guess why? If your answer is something like ‘Well, I’ve grown up now’ then you’re probably right. As a kid, your notion of goals was not the same as what it is now. The feeling of finally getting something you longed so much and worked so hard for is what being successful at something means.
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Success is a feeling, a sense of fulfillment that comes from accomplishing a goal regardless of how big or small, the said accomplishment is. It cannot be confined to one particular thing only, as it is different for everyone. Everyone wants to live a successful life, but what is exactly a successful life? Is it having loads of cash? Is it living in huge fancy mansions? Is it driving expensive supercars? Is it fame and power? It might be, but this is merely a stereotypical definition of a profitable way of living. As sad as it is, it is an extremely materialistic interpretation, something that you might see as shown by the media. Being monetarily rich is presented as the standard for the reason that how much we praise poverty, a completely successful life cannot be lived unless one has handsome assets.
But, some people don’t measure success money-wise. For them,
wealth is not limited to money only. For some it is what brings them mental
contentment and satisfaction, whether it is good health, a flourishing
relationship with someone, making people around them happy, or a roof over
their head, or whatsoever. For some, it might even be something like a life of
spiritual devotion to God or a culture or a community. Things that don’t
involve the idea of cash being prosperity. Why the difference? Why are there
different perceptions of a successful life? The truth is no matter what others
might try to tell you what success means, your success is determined by you and
you only.
A winning life is different for different people. People chase
money, power, education, fame, relationships, and whatnot, in name of success.
When a child is born, it is born with a fresh clean mind, as if it’s a newly
bought canvas, ready to get painted with various arrangements of colors, like a
clean slate. Every life that comes into this world is nurtured in its unique
surroundings. These surroundings turn individuals with no thoughts into
individuals with different attitudes and distinctive abilities to think and
interpret ideas. If we start bringing up children with the narrative that
wealth and success are not marked by money, rather with standards of your life
that make you a happy person, like friendships, relationships, and your family,
then they will start prioritizing differently and maybe work just enough to get
a pay-check.
The idea of success made limited to material things has put a
lot of people in depression and dissatisfaction of minds. Many individuals are working day and night just to get the bag while also neglecting
their relationships and mental well-being. The communal standards of a
successful have put people in confusion and have made them insecure. Of course,
material things are significant but the need to chase them all the time is
unhealthy and materialistic standards often make one lack gratitude and
sacrifice their much-needed joy.
So, if you are also one of the people being coerced by such
criteria, do keep in mind that you don’t have to be intimidated by it. You
define who you are and what being successful means according to what your
surroundings are, what you have on your plate, and what you have gone through.
You will come across many people who will try to invalidate your point of view, but they often don’t agree with you and can’t stand that.
You need to recognize that your experiences are unique so are you, you need to
think rationally, idealize sensibly, trust yourself and set your goals and work
for them, and keep working for them.
This article is written by Syeda Hafsah Zainab, one of the contributors at the School of Literature.
