Toast to Sucess...
Here's another one of my famous Black Taxi articles that I wrote for our Shimane JET Newsletter during my time in Japan! I think that this article still has a lot of meaning today as when I wrote it back in Shimane many moons ago! Let go of labels & learn to live!
“Trying
to Define Success”
Success, what is with this
word? It’s one of those words like
envy, jealously, failure, love, friendship, and marriage to name a few that’s
supposed to have one solid concrete meaning, but in fact it’s so vague. Now of days with globalization its def
a key buzz word to be simply “the best of the best.” As I sit here writing away as if I was Carrie Bradshaw,
sorry it’s not a juicy “Sex in the City” column for the NY Post for all of you
that hope it was. Nor am I not a sappy
writer for all those Hallmark cards, I’m just me, weather you like it or
not. Strangely enough the subject
has been indirectly on my mind these days. It seams like I’ve been in Japan too long actually to get
caught up in the mentality of simply the best of something. Honestly, no matter which way I
sneeze I’ve been compare to everyone else somehow to see if my experience has
been a success to them or not. The
Beatles must have known something ‘bout the subject to be one of the greatest
rock-n-roll bands of all time. Is
there some hidden recipe or spiritual healing that one has to do?
“She knows there's no success like
failure
And that failure's no success at all” from Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”. Does Dylan have it right? That’s it’s a constant battle when you
are at your weakest stuck down trying to get back up willing to fight until you
achieve an obstacle or many obstacles in one’s lifetime? Who ever thought that things in the
world are easy? For some we just
end up looking at the next person and wondering what they have that I don’t
have. Maybe we do take for granted
that we know how to brag like we are simply the best and make the person next
to us miserable. Has society
corrupted our views?
Do we really need to prove to the
other that we are successful or not?
Does the hidden pressures of “moving up” in the world effect us? Can
this be an easy thing to define, perhaps not? Surely enough it’s one of these words/idealism that have a
strong meaning when we feel a great accomplishment from the pain/joy/excitement
of the experience to make it shine like a star for us.
I reckon that the writers of our
day like H.S. Thompson, Tom Robbins, Helen Fielding and Nick Hornby could come
up with a better definition to the real meaning of success. Everyone has their moments in
life. Some have more than others, its
human nature. Can one of those
inspirational cards really sum up your exact thoughts and feelings of an
accomplishment? I don’t think
someone’s thoughts can make your experience come alive for you. Some type of good energy has to be
presence to filter into you to make that dream or accomplishment feel
real. It has to come
from yourself or from the people who have helped you reach your goal or theirs. I guess it has to come from ones own
point of view/morals/values to really find a meaning to this word. Let’s enjoy champagne to celebrate and
toast to success!
