Redefining Success

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

The idea of “having it all” is not just impossible, it’s undesirable. Why should we want it all? Everything we carry has weight, and lucky are we if our burdens are light.

Everything we carry has weight, and lucky are we if our burdens are light.

What we need is to redefine what makes a life successful. It’s not money, degrees, accolades, or the accoutrements associated with the accumulation of wealth and prestige. It’s not someone looking at your corpse in a funeral parlor and exclaiming, “Wow, they had it all!” Let them say of us not, “Look at what they did,” but “Look at who they were.”

Success is looking in the mirror and saying, “I have everything I need.” Success is being surrounded by people you love and spending time with them every day. Success is sipping your coffee and watching the sunrise unhurried. Success is forgetting what day it is and not needing to care. Success is reading a book you’ve always wanted to read or watching a film that connects you with people who have been dead for a long time and being moved to tears. Success is eating the chocolate cake and not tainting the sweetness with guilt. Success is saying no until you’re heard. Success is being home.

Success is eating the chocolate cake and not tainting the sweetness with guilt.

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