Journal 3-Success

1.  Different people have different views and definitions of success, as there is no one clear definition.  The dictionary defines it as " the attainment of popularity or profit."  I would personally define it as having made a positive impact on people around you and the world, as well as having personal fame or wealth.  My philosophy is that success can be reached in a large number of ways, and almost anyone can reach it, because I think anyone with a positive impact can be considered a success.  People who start or own huge corporations are also successes, of course, but I think they are a very different kind of successful.  

2.  In Tuesdays with Morrie, a philosophy of success was shown when he said "Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new.  Gobble up a new car.  Gobble up a new piece of property.  Gobble up the latest toy.  And then they wanted to tell you about it.  'Guess what I got? Guess what I got?' You know how I interpreted that?  These people were so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes."  This quote means that success is not about wealth or prosperity, but rather that it is simply about having a love-filled life.  Morrie would, by that definition, be considered extremely successful, because he was loved by so many people and he changed so many lives.  He was never interesting in material goods, which, according to Morrie, mean nothing to success or to life.  Another interesting idea was when Morrie said "Do the kind of things that come from the heart.  When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things.  On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back."  This means that a truly successful person has no desire for expensive things, and also that they wouldn't be envious or jealous of anything that anyone else has.  It also means that success comes from doing things that will help other people and make everyone's lives more enjoyable, not from exterior things like money or possessions.  

3.  I would agree with Morrie's philosophies, because anyone can inherit or buy a whole bunch of frivolous possessions, so that doesn't necessarily mean they are successful, it just means they're rich.  Someone who works hard to bring love to the world and who is kind to all those around, however, is successful because they've made the right decisions and have made many people's lives more enjoyable.  A CEO of a huge corporation may not be more successful than a normal citizen, for example, if the CEO just raises his pay and takes as much money from his company as he can while the citizen works hard to give their family a better life.   Tuesdays with Morrie has made me rethink what success really is, because like Morrie said, the media has conditioned us to think of riches with success.  I think the book has changed my view of success, as well as many other things. 

4. My open-ended question is "What do you think of when you think of success?"

When I think of success, I think of a variety of things, including people who've thought of innovative ways to improve the world's conditions, such as solar panels, but also people who have helped their communities become better places to live, and who have helped even their family and friends to get through life.  I don't so much think of people who got rich playing the stock market, because these people just got lucky, but didn't necessarily do much other than buy themselves a private airplane.