Success Is…. Overcoming One's Defeatism When Faced With Major Catastrophes

Success does not have to be about wealth, power, control and such like. Success can be as simple as overcoming your reaction to reality and keeping your spirit high. Where is this thought coming from? Last Saturday, my friend forwarded me an email that was sent by an English teacher, Anne, who has been living in Sendai, Japan, for 10 years. I was in an angry state when I started reading the email. I was angry with another friend of mine who had acted, in my opinion, in an insensitive manner. By the time I finished reading Anne's email, my anger had vanished. Note that I do not know Anne personally and, I believe, neither does the friend who forwarded that email to me. It is one of those emails that goes around the world I guess, one of those chain emails that can be so annoying, but not this one. Anne's spirit, based on her email, had overcome the calamities that have swept Japan recently. That, to me, is Success, not 'success' but 'S'uccess with an uppercase 'S'. Email me if you have not read Anne's email and I will forward it to you.

Here is an un-edited extract that touches me deeply:

"And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entrance way. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no."

That is Success! - overcoming your fears and despair in spite of everything; helping one another anonymously without expectation of recognition or gratitude. Why wait until such calamities befall us for our caring side to surface, care for our kindred spirit?! Why can we not dig deep down into our heart and pull that caring part of us a bit more to the surface and show more consideration to the many fellow humans that we rub shoulders to everyday? Many of us literally do rub shoulders in our day to day commute to work; therefore, how about we start a new trend of Success and act with care towards each other!

Going back to my anger - as mentioned earlier, by the time I had read the whole email, it had dissipated totally. My original plan, in the thrust of my anger, was to send a very harsh text to that friend who had made me angry in the first place. Well instead, I forwarded Anne's email to him with a short note on how life is too short for us to hold on to values and beliefs that mean absolutely nothing when faced with certain crises. Do you know what happened? It totally touched him… and how do I know that? Because the next day he did something that totally reversed his act of 'insensitivity' into an act of great love.

This has inspired me to write this article on Success…Success that is deeper than its usual definition and that changes others around the world. I am sure there are so many such stories of Success though they do not usually make the front page news. Let's give a new meaning to Success - let's make it a Success when we show love and care to another without expecting anything in return; when we manage to make someone smile for no particular reason; when we give up that seat on the train for someone who needs it more; when we keep our spirit high when faced with pain and sufferings… Make your own definition of Success and live it!

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com