Here are some headlines on my feed the other day:
"Why highly successful people are prone to depression."
"Highly successful people are at higher risk for depression."
"Why the super-successful get depressed."
Doesn't this sound ludicrous to you? Senseless, weird, odd, strange? Or is it just me? What nonsense is this? We need to re-define what success means in today’s society.
Success is subjective, of course. However, too many people are so caught up in society’s idea of success that we often forget that personal success is the only one that’s truly sustainable.
Here are a few ways to assure you that you are truly successful. If you resonate with most of them, you should be very happy.
1. You feel gratitude for the simplest things.
2. You know yourself and you don’t fear revealing who you are.
3. You have peace of mind. 4. You have a genuine intention to be a good person.
5. You’re self-aware.
6. You’ve fallen more times than you can remember, and each time you fall you get right back up without compromising on your principles.
7. You are constantly learning about yourself. You don’t rush to improve. You accept that you’ll always be work in progress.
8. You don’t harm people and animals, you’re not careless about the welfare of the planet and people around you.
9. You take care of yourself, you eat well and you take enough rest. You don’t need fancy food or clothes to be happy.
10. You don’t put up a façade to show people a favorable image of yourself. You reveal your real self because you have nothing to hide or fear.
11. Truth that’s unacknowledged, or kept hidden, poisons us slowly. Insidiously. You know that the truth, whether you’re seeking it or revealing it, really does set you free.
12. You take accountability for your choices and actions. You make the most with the cards you were dealt with without whining about how unfair life is.
13. You don’t envy anyone, or resent them for appearing better off than you or luckier than you.
14. You forgive, not because people say you should, but because you really do see the silver lining in the harm done to you. And therefore, your act of forgiveness is actually gratitude.
15. You have faith in something bigger than yourself. And you surrender to that faith. You see God, the universe, source energy, or a higher being, not as your savior, not as your boss that’s here to judge and punish you, but as a partner. This partnership is where you do your part, and then you surrender to the faith that God universe will do their part.
16 You’re doing what you truly love and believe in, and you have faith that you can earn a comfortable living doing it.
So you see, society’s idea of success is so effed up. How can success ever be anything but bring you peace of mind, contentment, and enjoyment of everyday simple things that are quite frankly, miraculous. These simple things assure us all the time, what sustainable and healthy success is.
If you resonate with most of what I’ve said, be happy. Be very happy!
Have a great week ahead, and I’ll see you soon.