Success

Success is subjective. One must define success for him or her self, otherwise someone else will define it for them. Success can mean a lot of things, the Stoics of Rome would define it very differently from how an ancient greek Hedonist would, by that token, there can be no meaningful reason for you to measure your success by any meter other than that which you choose for yourself.

My father, to whom I owe both my character, and my rabid curiosity, is an excellent father and family man. Success to him is not material wealth, nor impact on the greater world. Success to my dad has always been to have a happy family to care for and love. No other man have I seen so selflessly deny higher pay and frequent travel, for the simple reason that he valued his family and the time spent with them much more than he valued money or adventure. My amazing father did this. What a successful man!

Like my father, I have an uncommon concept of what success means. My success is in the number of lives I change for the better, the surplus of what I create over what I consume, and the selflessness I show towards the world and my family.

To that end I aim myself at the sky, knowing that this success is independent of material gain or power. My success on this measure can be amplified through material means, but I may be fully successful in life without a penny to my name, as long as I am improving lives, creating more than I consume, and taking care to put others before myself as often as is possible.

~Daniel

(Doesn't matter when I originally wrote this one.) (But it was 1/11/17)