Where does it begin and end?

When you reflect on your life, what causes you to feel successful? Is it the way you have gotten the job you have? Is it the nature of your relationships? Is it something else you've earned? Is it the state of your health and well-being? Maybe its a combination.

If you think of success like a circle, you may begin to believe that everything you think and feel is connected to your sense of success. Some people assume success is a result or, success is a process. Have you ever felt "in between" successes or like success is 'out-of-reach?'  What if success is intrinsic, immeasurable and differing than your current view?

What if you came to believe that success is partly a matter of learning to notice changes within yourself? To recognize what you are and what you're not, to discern how you feel and when you're experiencing something you've never experienced before.  As you evolve to observe yourself, you will detect meaningful energy and ideas you had missed before.

Human beings tend to be conditioned to assume success is a destination. Yet, success comes in different forms based on your perception, aspirations and priorities. It doesn't have to seem like it ends. Whenever you choose, you can believe you are successful as you are.  It doesn't matter where you are, who you know or, what you've done (or not).

Comments

[Donna L. Faber]

Hi, Liara ... I started to feel "successful" when I cast off anger and was more able to live in the moment. It had everything to do with a personal change of perspective, and the ability to appreciate the point of view of others.

[Liara Covert]

Donna, for many people, success is ultimately a state of mind. You can decide that you are or aren't, and you also decide how to clarify your own definition. Emotions themselves can seem complicated, yet as you consciously reflect and work through them, you discover hidden layers of success that are as unfathomable as they are unlimited.

[Carol Cole-Lewis]

I learned this lesson big time through doing Bikram Yoga. With Bikram Yoga, you perform the same 27 postures every single session. The only way you can count progress is by small increments - a bit deeper bend here, a little closer to the toes there. If you measure yourself against the twenty-something pretzel practitioners in the room, you'd quickly realize your limitations and never seek your own power within. Plus, the room is BLOODY HOT and if you don't stay present with the pose, your mind (and your body) would run screaming out of the room.

OK, I've indulged in a bit of hyperbole, though your message is clear – Success comes from within.

Thanks for your post, Liara (and for visiting one of my blogs, too!)

[Alexys Fairfield]

Hi Liara,
I feel successful every time I wake up. I think we know when we feel successful, it is something we can't plan. Sometimes it happens by surprise and though we can prepare mentally for it, it just hits us.

When Archimedes shouted, "Eureka!" after he stepped into a bath and noticed that the water level rose – he suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. He was so eager to share his realization that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked. Success is aligning ourselves with those internal Eureka moments.

[Rainforestrobin]

I finally was able to get onto your site. YEAH! :) I have no idea what I was doing wrong. No matter, I am here. :)

For myself, success is something that I feel inside. It is not about money, or how much I own or have, or who I know, what I've done or not done. It is a feeling of joy and intense love of Life that I have. Sure, there are people and things that I do that reflect this feeling, such as being in nature or around those I love and whom love me. But even before that, it is a feeling I must have in myself. I guess when I feel the most successful is when I am truly happy. And that doesn't mean that I am ONLY happy when things are going "my way". It is something MUCH deeper and more vast than that. For me it is about being in LOVE. I'm not talking about romantic love, although that is wonderful. I am talking about being in a "state of love." Being at peace with myself and world. Being in love just because love exists, just because Love IS....and I am in relationship with it. If I am in that place of being, feeling, experiencing, acting with and from love then I am highly successful. Little else matters, the rest is icing on the cake, and only rewarding because I am "in LOVE". I am going to be writing about this very thing soon. I'll let you know when I do. I really enjoyed this post and the questions you raise. I feel it is very important because it will help many find their way back to meaningful life. Thank you, beautiful one. :)

[Liara Covert]

Carol, although I'm unfamiliar with Bikram yoga, I will make an analogy with t'ai chi. Patience and perceived progress are promoted gradually through a repetition of t'ai chi positions as well. As you point out, progress isn't a measure of where you are and what you do compared to other beings around you. Its a question of learning to remove your focus on things outside yourself and exploring how to reorient within.

[Liara Covert]

Alexys, I love that Archimedes analogy! The early Greeks and other ancestors teach us much about the positive power of physical reflex and mental instinct. When human beings condition themselves to think and behave "the right way," they often repress meaningful ideas and overlook eureka moments which would benefit their expansion and growth.

[Liara Covert]

Rainforest Robin, human beings are constantly redefining and reinterpreting the meaning of "My Way." It makes a fabulous theme for deeper self-reflection.

Paul Anka is known for a song with this title. This is because so many people relate to the underlying theme of control in the lyrics. Whenever you hum or sing along with a song, you are reinforcing the messages between the lines.

To discover peace within yourself is a priceless experience, a gift accessible to all. Human beings are often distracted by the messages and noise imposed physical world. To return to nature is one way to reconnect with your inner self. This is a wonderful reminder that you have power to love and savor every moment, every experience, wherever you are.