by Alicia Crowder

Created on: February 08, 2009   Last Updated: February 22, 2009

Success is entirely in the mind of the judge. If you are judging your own success, then you should first think about what you really want out of life and what you used to always dream of achieving when you were much younger. In the words of the Adam Sandler movie, "Mr. Deeds, What did you want to be when you grew up?"

Although that most likely changed many times over during our trek towards adulthood, isn't there something in there that might make you think about what you really care about and what you will be glad that you have done when it's all over? When you are 80 years old, will you be glad that you had a nice car while you were young or will you be happier that you treated other people well? Will you be glad that you wrote a book or will you be happier about how many people you slept with? There are so many ways to compare what truly is the meaning of success, but isn't it all about what success is to you?

The public often connects success with money and fame/notoriety. They rarely look at those who are actually enjoying their lives, but living on very little.

Success for the typical American would be to get their credit cards paid off. To have a nice home and a nice vehicle and a loving family. To have the financial stability to do as one pleases, is also a measure of success.

Success is ultimately synonymous with happiness, within the realms of a healthy mind, that is. If an individual is happy and aids in the happiness of others. That must be considered success. To others it is all-encompassed within their worship to God. They believe that true success only lies within giving glory to their Creator, who in turn will give them one form or another of immortality, whether it be in heaven or wherever their religious beliefs take them after death. Success to them is nothing without God's favor and in a way this ties directly back to happiness. Due to the fact that they are completely convinced that there is no life without God and the worship of that Higher Power, they are at that point, therefore, mentally incapable of any form of happiness without complete faith in their ability to please or worship the Divine One wholeheartedly or at least to the point that they feel they are doing all they can and that their Creator sees this and forgives them in the areas where they lack.

Success is then, a very personal matter, if discussing what one considers success for themselves. The typically and shallowly, I might add, judged measures of success which people determine about one another are much simpler to define.

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