Decoding the true meaning of success
With both my children having flown the nest so to speak, and being fortunate in having help at home, I have taken to loitering about my own house. As it happened, I must have answered my son on the few occasions he called to ask what I was doing, with a casual and lofty, “Nothing much, just drifting about from room to room.”
The last time I said that he probably thought his mother had started vegetating or the onset of depression was setting in because he hollered, “Please mom! JK Rowling became famous at the age of 52. Come on, you can do something too.” We playfully exchanged a few words where I played morose and glum and he kept egging me on to write more or paint and hold an exhibition to sell my artwork.
I do get charged up off and on and plan to seriously start penning my thoughts on paper for a novel maybe, then also decide to pick up the paintbrushes and just as quickly my intentions waver because my husband calls out for me or my mother-in -law needs to go to the dentist or the menu for the day has to be decided.
I often think about not being ambitious or pushy enough. I sometimes feel unhappy about the fact that I never got the opportunity to explore my potential, or at least to discover if I ever had any. Like millions of women, I happily nurtured my kids and took care of the home and family, without ever thinking of achieving anything more.
But just what is the definition of success and fame? Does it have to meet the standards set out by people like you and me? Do success and fame equate happiness and contentment? Where does one draw the line? Also isn’t the term ‘successful’ relative? There are as many interpretations as there are people. One maybe at the acme of one’s career and still feel dissatisfied. Another may be content running a tea shack by the sea. Some go through their lives complaining, while others may be at peace with very little.
Fame is a fickle mistress and so is success. With half a century behind me, I think I may be in a position to suggest a recipe for both. The trick lies in knowing and accepting what clicks for each one. Aren’t we all successful in some way or the other? As a parent, a homemaker, a friend, a caregiver or a worker? Why do we succumb to the pressure of conforming to an idea put out by some well-meaning folks and think of it as the gospel truth even if it may not apply to our situation?
My son being young, and in the thick of things as a fledgling entrepreneur, is surely not buying my argument.
I can just see him reading this piece and calling me with a shout of laughter: “Please Ma! Stop making excuses for your sloth and stop trying to muddle us all with your long-winded ideas, convenient excuses and convoluted words. Just do it!”
THE TRICK LIES IN KNOWING AND ACCEPTING WHAT CLICKS FOR EACH ONE. AREN’T WE ALL SUCCESSFUL IN SOME WAY?