Goals, Ambitions--Success

Success. What does that word bring to mind? A person becoming powerful and making millions or maybe it is a person becoming the first in their family to graduate. The definition of success varies from person to person. People may aim for it, teachers help us build up to it, but what exactly is it?

It is your goals, a personal bucket list. According to Dictionary.com, success is “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors” and “the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.” I like the former because I would feel successful if I fulfilled what I was aiming for.
As simple as it sounds, graduating and going off to college would be an accomplishment for me. While both of my parents went to a Bible college, I am thinking about majoring in dietetics or nursing. I might also decide to take classes to improve my writing so that I can write a book. Rather than becoming a workaholic, I want to enjoy my career and have a life. If I had to choose between being wealthy or not, I would choose not to because it would not last forever. It could potentially steal away what is important in my life.

One of my “bucket list” items is to go skydiving. Would my life feel complete if I did that? Maybe...if I survived. It would be exciting and terrifying and they say that coming out of an experience like that can change someone. Going to Italy would be another goal, or wish, of mine. Traveling is a common desire of many people and going to new places is an unforgettable experience that I want to have.

Also, is there ever a certain time in life when people just stop and think that they have reached success? Is it ever reached? If people reach that point, they cannot just stop living their lives. If they want to get the most out of life they will continue to have ideas of how to improve it. Whether it is personal success or helping others become successful, it is an ongoing cycle. We never know what is going to happen, so it’s better to feel successful even if we don’t have every single goal completed.

People cannot just have a money tree in their backyard that they water every day. What should be watered are goals and dreams. Some of them might not grow, but those little failures, those goals that stubbornly do not sprout are an inevitable part of life. Just as there is no good without evil, there is no success without failure.

I want to grow an entire forest of accomplishments. The goals that do grow allow one to reach that most personal and important ambition, and as the MasterCard commercials say, it’s “Priceless.”  Basically, based on decisions and determination, success is what a person decides they want it to be.