Success
Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Darkman in Education, Inspiration, Life and Style
Jay-Z in his song Success raps: “I got watches I ain’t seen in months, Apartment at the Trump I only slept in it once…Even if I fell I land on a bunch of money,Y’all ain’t got nothing for me”
This is a theme repeated in most Hip-Hop songs. Its all about the “Benjamin’s”, Cars, Clothes and Jewellery. The bigger the bravado the more successful you are. But is that really the definition of success? Is success determined by material things, how much money you make or is it based on a comparison between you and your friends?
When did the link between wealth, fame and success become blurred? The world we live in berates us, in order to be successful you have to look & live a certain way but thats not true. Who is more successful, a labourer earning 40K a year with a wife and kid who is content and happy or a millionaire who spends most if not all his waking hours worrying about staying on top and making more money rather than enjoying life?
Erma Bombeck writes “Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.” . Madonna an icon in the pop world who has been around for the last 30 years constantly reinventing herself & constantly causing controversy. In the eyes of the world she is deemed as successful but i beg to differ. Fame and success are two diffrent things.
“Helen Keller, the first deafblind person to graduate from college. A campaigner for women’s suffrage, workers’ rights and socialism as well as many other progressive cause was a success. She is remembered as an advocate for people with disabilities amid numerous other causes”
Helen Keller was a success story. Someone who dared to be diffrent in a time when people with disabilities where isolated and cast aside in society. She was successful because she followed H. Duane Black’s theory : “If at first you don’t succeed, think how many people you’ve made happy.”. It was never about the money or fame but about helping other people.
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes about success and this sums it all up:
“To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one’s self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived —
This is to have succeeded.”
This is not in direct response to any previous comments but success by definition can relate to the attainment of wealth, position, honors as well as achievements.
The key is not to deem others as failures based on your own measure of success, be it the size of your bank balance or by the number of people that know your name.
It is therefore absolutely plausible that a labourer and a multi millionaire can both be successful in their own right.