The Meaning of Success

Auckland Sunset, Credit: N Haley Y23.com

success: outcome of undertaking; favourable outcome, accomplishment of what was aimed at, attainment of wealth or fame or position. Concise Oxford Dictionary

In a previous post I asked what "success" means (the comments from readers are well worth reading on that too - thankyou). Although I wrote the post from my own convictions, I wasn't expecting the personal process that followed posting it. It's as if I have been standing ankle deep in the ocean and am now compelled to wade in deeper, or as if something growing slowly in the dark was suddenly exposed to the sun and began to shoot upward. A deepening and growth of conviction.

What would you do if the world's premier artist was giving an exhibition of his new multi-media artwork and you were the only person invited? Would you jump at the chance and attend? I did last night. I went down to the beach as the day was ending. It was raining lightly which suited me as I knew the beach would be pretty deserted. And to add to that when I got there the tide was out - which meant I could make my way around the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs at the end of the bay. So I made my way, looking a bit funny with my umbrella up. It was one of those peaceful times - gentle colours and the water calm. Part way around the rocks there is a big rock - like a huge slab with a flat top. I climbed up and it stopped raining. Then I sat there, my legs dangling over the edge several feet above the gently lapping waves below, and with that as my soundtrack I watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I was the only person there. No-one else saw the sunset from where I saw it and heard the waves below. And being the only person at the exhibition, I got to talk one on one with the artist too. I was too awed to say very much. I returned home inspired and grateful.

Would you say that was a successful exhibition?

I want to be successful in an upside down way. I will never have the artistry of the master, but I would like sometimes to give something different from what the world tells me to exhibit as a badge of achievement. Will I do my best if only one person is receiving it? Will I take the same care and pay the same attention to detail? And what if they take it and don't acknowledge me at all - will I carry on and give more another time?

I think some people equate the word "success" with recognition. When they say they are not interested in being successful I get the impression they mean they aren't interested in being well known. I understand that - yet I don't think being well known is necessarily wrong. I want the real meaning of success, not just a reaction to the meaning the word has acquired in popular culture. Or the meaning that derives from human nature when it seeks it's own grandeur. One can be unknown and no better off spiritually. Over many years I have encountered plenty of our society's unknowns in street ministry and other work. People who have opted out - people who are invested with abilities and gifts they do not use. One man I met was an artist - but he no longer picks up a brush. He sleeps under a bridge.

Our culture tells us to give because we want something back. We live by the law of reciprocation. How easily this becomes the standard. Of course the opposite of that is the person who won't be beholden to anyone and will receive nothing. The non-beholdens appear successful because they will not expose their need. These are spiritual conditions. These are ways of being "successful" on our own terms. As I've thought about the tension the internet presents between the need to promote a site and the desire to be humble about it, I've realised the internet is not unique in presenting this struggle. It simply magnifies our disposition and values. Or it can magnify something that turns those values upside down.

In ancient times King Solomon had a reputation for being the wealthiest and wisest man on earth. "Vanity of vanities", he said. "All is vanity". Some translate "vanity" as "futility". Why would the most "successful" man on earth say all is futility? "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is futility and grasping for the wind", he said.

I cannot take the wind in hand and turn it to my bidding. I cannot set the rhythm of the waves, or set the colour scheme for the sky. I cannot measure my own success.

Success is giving expecting nothing in return. It's kindness done in secret - as if even the left hand doesn't know what the right hand has done. Success is retaining integrity whether the crowd applaud or hiss. Success is offering the best to others - whether they drive a Ferrari or sleep on the street. Success is knowing that I have nothing I was not given. It's knowing I can never afford the entry price to the exhibition but am admitted free. Success is not attained by a set of rules, well-placed connections, or having a name. Neither is it being proud of having none of those things. Success is not comparative and dependent on being better than others. I am not successful by avoiding what I am capable of but I am incapable of being successful by myself - it is futile.

Success is giving up trying to catch the wind and paradoxically having it on the inside instead. Doing my best with what I have, being true to the higher call, and knowing that I cannot measure the real value of my achievements - that is success. It is knowing that I am not being crafted by my own hand. When the sun sets I will not be left in darkness.