How Do We Measure Success?
It is interesting where we get our inspiration these days. Our lives are so inundated with stimuli and sources of communication, that it is hard to know what to pay attention to. On September 8th, for example, at 11:01:21 we received an emailed newsletter from Sam Fellenbaum of Alliance Capital. In it we were asked the following question.
How does the world, your contemporaries, your competitors or others define success in life or in business? Is it fame, notoriety, wealth, popularity, power? Is it a certain amount of profit, income, or market share? Who cares?
Success, true success, should be defined on your own terms and in the context of what you can influence and control in your own life and business. Sam shared that his measure of success only compares the present to his own past performance. “Success is being better at what’s most important to me than I’ve been before. Success, like love, beauty, happiness, and all things grand and glorious is a subjective, abstract criterion that has only the meaning we give it.”
An hour earlier Renee had shared my astrology for the day from “The Daily OM” which she does rarely. It said in part “With a warm heart and a desire to reach out to loved ones, you are likely to find yourself expressing your affection today.
It is a wonderful chance to show someone that you appreciate all they have done to make your life better, even if it is just by being there with you. Sometimes a person’s mere presence can be comforting. Listen to your intuitive sense, because it is telling you that the time has come to focus on what is truly important in your life, and there is nothing more important than love.
Today you should take the chance to be as adoring as you would like toward those who have filled your life with love. Telling people how much we love and appreciate them now is insurance against future regret, but it also means that you are living your life fully in the present moment.
It is when we feel that tomorrow will offer us more time that we put off the truly important elements of our lives – the people and the feelings – for things that only seem important, such as meeting deadlines, making an impression or earning money. Love is the true currency of the world, and it can enrich all areas of your life. When you make love and its expression your priority, you are nurturing your own life today.
The internal rewards you get are worth more than money will ever be.
Pope Francis confirmed for me that this should be our message this month after his historic visit to Philadelphia, our ‘City of Brotherly Love’ when he was quoted on the front page of our local daily paper in a spot usually reserved for sports and crime “Would that all of us could be open to the miracles of love for the sake of all families in the world.”
Love to all our readers from Peter, Renee and the gang that contributes their collective efforts to make Paradise NEWS the magazine you love to read.