SUCCESS Is A Journey - Enjoy The Ride! by Margaret Cowles

Success is not a destination, it's a journey. The truth is, if you were to ask the most successful people in the world, Donald Trump included, they would more likely than not tell you that they haven't reached the pinnacle of success.

And that is a very good and healthy thing. Think about it. If you were to look at your life and be totally content with what you have achieved then what would there be left to do? You'd be sitting around looking at your bank account, or your possessions, or whatever it was that you defined success by with nothing left to do. You may be alive physically but emotionally there would be very little life inside of you, especially if you were driven by the need to succeed.
So success is a journey. One who's destination you hope never is fully reached.

Having said that, you still want to have some kind of success. You certainly don't want to look back at your life and feel that you haven't achieved anything. The last thing anyone wants to feel like is a total failure. But what exactly is even partial success? Sure, you can micro manage things to the point where you declare that simply getting up and making it through your day without anything terrible happening to you is a successful day. And yet, to some people, that would be a miracle. I'm talking about people who have serious illnesses, or have some kind of addiction to drugs or alcohol. For these people, getting through a day is a major triumph.

You have to look at the life you've been given and figure out how you can make it better. You have to first decide what it is you want to be successful at. If it's to be a great actor then the first thing you have to do is learn your craft. You may never reach the point of hitting the silver screen but if you managed to land a small role in a local town production of "My Fair Lady" wouldn't you consider that a degree of success? I know I would.

See, success is not an absolute. It's a continuing evolution of your progress as a person. When you learned to cook, if you learned to cook, you didn't make the most tasty meals right from the start, unless of course you are just naturally gifted. But gradually your cooking skills became greater and greater. Okay, so maybe you never get that job cooking at the Waldorf. But wasn't it successful having the family over for Thanksgiving dinner and telling you how wonderful everything was?

The point I'm trying to make is this. Success is relative. And the key to success is recognizing the strides that you have made along your journey to success, or whatever your definition of success is. As long as you keep trying; as long as you don't give up; as long as you continue that journey; that brass ring, if that's what you're reaching for, will always be within reach. You may not reach your ultimate goal, but every inch of progress you make brings you that much closer to getting there.

Success is a journey. Enjoy it!