The world and each individual has their own definition of success. The world defines success as making it in the corporate world for example; driving the best car, wearing flashy suits, living in an expensive place and making the dollars! Every person now has their own definition to fit in with their present reality. Life can be a difficult and often unpredictable journey with curvy roads, bumps and steep environs all around us. Truthfully, even if it is hard to admit- we do fail and we do make mistakes. Instead of moving forward with our lives we move backwards, instead of optimism and faith we become pessimistic and arrogant; eventually giving in to other people’s demands and giving up on our dreams.
What I have learned from observing the successful people of this world, those that have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to a cause and who can wear a wide smile on their face- is that they keep trying despite the journey ahead. The more we cultivate the desire to keep trying despite our failures and others’ who would have us falter; the greater our success rates. Our dreams are only vanity when we stop striving to turn them into a reality. I am often encouraged and reassured by a quote by one Henry Longfellow who stated:
“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained in sudden flight but, they while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night.”
Such, is our sojourn in mortality and such will be our end goal only when we keep trying. Take yourself back to when you were a toddler, who could only crawl and then you sought to learn how to walk. Picture your parents encouraging you to walk and even allowing you to fall and to cry until you got comfortable with walking. If at that tender age, you could forge the courage to walk and to keep trying, then why now as an adult do you falter when you are starting a new job, improving your education, being patient with your loved ones or trusting that if you keep the commandments then God will have no other option than to bless you?
The world will always have its own definition of success and it is high time that we define this for ourselves and then work at it until we make it. Don’t give up, please keep trying and all other doors will open for you!
