You exert a lot of energy in your life. How do you give your life meaning? Notice how the meanings of life and success evolve at different stages. What do you see?
As a child, you are a spontaneous, free spirit who laughs and smiles freely. You read your own heart with clarity, share, care for others and notice the changes you make as you love. Life has a resonance you can feel. You respond based on innate nature until conditioned to ignore the heart. Recall how being around children feels like.
As a student, you may think success relates to getting good grades, being noticed by teachers and accepted by peers. Your work ethic reflects what you are trying to prove. Hard work and struggle are the assumed path to success. Does a diploma, certificate or qualification itself represent success? Let go of beliefs and reflect on life's meaning.
As an adult in the working world, success is often defined for you by your employer or your job environment. At some stage, you may begin to sense when you work against people, you cannot know real success. Have you ever turned down a raise, promotion, job transfer or opportunity because you honestly feel you already do and have enough? Have you ever sensed competition is unimportant? Have you ever felt success has nothing to do with completing any projects or fulfilling duties? What if you had nowhere to go, no appointments or commitments? What if you had no constraints?
As you watch films and the media, success is portrayed as power, fame, material wealth, public acceptance and admiration. And yet, still, you may feel like something is missing. Part of you asks is this what life is really all about? Notice how thoughts can imprison you. Another perspective is true fulfillment is unrelated to doing things.
Another view of success is beyond the fault-finding mind. It is that part of you that sees and appreciates things as they are. Recall what it feels like to serve others. Ever do any charity work? Its remarkable how those you serve intuit how you feel and help you find new meaning in interactions. When you give non-judgmental energy, you find life is not about "me." Its not personal. From the moment you no longer feel separate from other beings, a different sense of success arises. Only when the mind is quiet, do you stop thinking success requires activities. Then, you taste freedom, see life clearly.