You Could Suffer…You Could Suffer A Whole Lot…

I recently looked up the meaning of happiness on google and this was the result

Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness. 

Googlehttps://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/happiness

The part that really got me was the section that suggests that happiness is experienced when people are successful. Because I have seen and heard instances where many successful people are never truly happy. So is a person’s happiness based on success? And I think more important to this discussion is a definition for success. We have always spoken about success but not what it means to be successful. It maybe that our perception of success is skewed. By that I mean that the success we pursue may not be the success we need.

Success 101

Can we be successful with just having no stress in our lives? With just waking up in the morning and knowing that we will do what we love? By this I mean what we really want to do not what we have told ourselves that we have to, because it seems someone else’s agenda is being served by us being their. That is not really what is meant. Are you a success if you, “march to the beat of your own drum no matter where it takes you and how far? Or, are you a success when you have ticked all the boxes that you have been given to work in? When you finally receive the promotion or prize you’ve been waiting for your whole life, then are you a success? May it is because today you did not have that chocolate – right Byfield- or that one thing that can totally derail your efforts in reaching a goal you have set?

There is perhaps nothing worse than reaching the top of the ladder and discovering that you’re on the wrong wall.

Joseph Campbell

Or is there something else?

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves

Philippians 2:3

I am sure many of us do not think enough about spiritual success. What is spiritual success you my ask. Well, it is something that we need to consider. Spiritual success means leaning on God because of our limitations. It is realising that we constantly need to check in with our spiritual source of strength when all else fails. Being aware of who we are – not as a cliche – and being brave enough to step out in faith. Step out and away from the things that undermine true joy and happiness. There is always that small voice inside that we often ignore; then later when things go wrong we wonder why we never paid attention to that voice. Often times we choose to ignore the plans God for us because they do not align with what we want for ourselves or what others want for us. We may choose to pay attention to what everyone around us says but not to the voice that urges us in the opposite direction.

This is when we suffer. We suffer mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. The best thing to do, may be to question the type of success you are willing to live with and which you can live without. To be successful beyond the material is to rely completely on God for the answers that we need. To wait patiently for the things that we need and to be hopeful that all we need will be supplied when we need it. A person can be successful at making a lot of money, but if it produces only negative results, what is the purpose? Is he or she a success? And, does this lead to happiness? These are all things we must grapple with but if you do so from a space of spirituality, the answers may be easier to digest!