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AllSeasons
Guest
How do you define success? Won’t qualify it with anything, because I want the replies to be unadulterated.
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JaneGrey
Guest
When I first read this, the things that came to mind were physical and mental health, happiness, great people in our lives, a fulfilling career or vocation etc. However, I actually think it might be more useful to define success by what the individual can control.
So I would broadly define success as
1.)The ability and motivation to follow a healthy lifestyle with the hope that it will result in good mental and physical health as well as functional cognitive patterns so that we may deal with others in the most mutually beneficial way without getting hurt.
2.) Having good or at least functional relationships with the people in our lives, irregardless of whether we chose them to be in it.
3.) If not a fulfilling career and/or vocation, then the ability to recognise what steps need to be taken to be on the path to achieving these things, and the drive to stay on said path.
4.) Peace. With God, with oneself, with the things we cannot change (this is hard!) such as the choices of others.
5.) This is sort of related to no.4. The ability to recognise that success can look different for everyone.
6.) The means to be able to help others.
IMO, one of the main reasons people tend to feel that things aren’t going their way in life is because they are constantly comparing themselves to others.
So I would broadly define success as
1.)The ability and motivation to follow a healthy lifestyle with the hope that it will result in good mental and physical health as well as functional cognitive patterns so that we may deal with others in the most mutually beneficial way without getting hurt.
2.) Having good or at least functional relationships with the people in our lives, irregardless of whether we chose them to be in it.
3.) If not a fulfilling career and/or vocation, then the ability to recognise what steps need to be taken to be on the path to achieving these things, and the drive to stay on said path.
4.) Peace. With God, with oneself, with the things we cannot change (this is hard!) such as the choices of others.
5.) This is sort of related to no.4. The ability to recognise that success can look different for everyone.
6.) The means to be able to help others.
IMO, one of the main reasons people tend to feel that things aren’t going their way in life is because they are constantly comparing themselves to others.
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lax16
Guest
I will define success as raising good Catholic children that will grow up to be solid Christians serving others in their home and in the world.
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Cristiano
Guest
To me success is the accomplishment of an intended goal using the planned behaviors. Quite a few individuals with psychopath traits can be highly successful (see Scientific American Oct 2012) but that does not mean that I would like to be with them or respect their success.
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BobCatholic
Guest
Success is hearing those wonderful words from Jesus Christ:
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 25:23[/BIBLEDRB]
Heaven is success. Anything else is decoration.
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 25:23[/BIBLEDRB]
Heaven is success. Anything else is decoration.
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cmscms
Guest
I define success as not having to have to worry about tomorrow. The older I get, the more I realize the only way to accomplish that is to learn to trust God
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JRKH
Guest
Success is remaining in a state of grace…
Peace
James
Peace
James
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teenphilo1
Guest
Nailed it.
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1ke
Guest
based on your other post-- which I thought was obsessing a little too much on what girls think about MBAs working in corporate America-- I will say that I now definitely think you are obsessing and overanalyzing.
Go live your life!
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doormouse73
Guest
i would sum success up by saying the words ST,Peter… he failed and got back up,failed and got back up.this was noted by our Lord to give him the keys to heaven…
always put your mistakes right.strive to improve… little by little.crawl before you run…
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Edward_H
Guest
Being on the inclined plane toward holiness, and loving the daily struggle toward this end, being able to ‘begin again with God’ with a smile.
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englishredrose
Guest
How do you define success or how do you measure success do you mean?
We can be rich in the Love of God
but
at the same time so fincially overdrawn and have nothing materialistic to speak off and everyone basically treats us worse than a leapor because we stink of poverty and kicked in the gutter so in the societal world we down and out failed.
but a priest happens to come across us and teaches us how to access God in the way that is meaningful to the individual and know that God loves us… So we are rich in the Christian world but no one of either worlds wants to know us because we are classed as failuires in the materialist and church world but yet are rich and succesful in Gods’ Love
I am not the down and out person as in bankrupcy but I am not the successful person you meet in the high street either but with God is my only chance and at times I feel successful because I have been shown that access to God that I can reach and no one else can take that away from me which is true success
We can be rich in the Love of God
but
at the same time so fincially overdrawn and have nothing materialistic to speak off and everyone basically treats us worse than a leapor because we stink of poverty and kicked in the gutter so in the societal world we down and out failed.
but a priest happens to come across us and teaches us how to access God in the way that is meaningful to the individual and know that God loves us… So we are rich in the Christian world but no one of either worlds wants to know us because we are classed as failuires in the materialist and church world but yet are rich and succesful in Gods’ Love
I am not the down and out person as in bankrupcy but I am not the successful person you meet in the high street either but with God is my only chance and at times I feel successful because I have been shown that access to God that I can reach and no one else can take that away from me which is true success
R
R_C
Guest
Success is not defined based on the results achieved, but on the efforts, and on avoiding all sorts of intrinsic evils on the road. This often implies sacrifices.
Sounds odd?
Consider Olympic athletes.
How many work really hard, avoiding all sorts of illegal drugs, and maybe because of an injury or a small error they do not win a medal (or worse).
How many don’t even make it to the Olympics for a myriad of reasons, while maybe they tried as hard as they could and avoiding all illegal and immoral means to achieve the goal desired?
Have they failed, or have they been successful?
Consider now someone who uses all sorts of “shortcuts” and illegal drugs and achieves top results. Was he successful?
The same applies, in my view, to all other aspects of life.
Sounds odd?
Consider Olympic athletes.
How many work really hard, avoiding all sorts of illegal drugs, and maybe because of an injury or a small error they do not win a medal (or worse).
How many don’t even make it to the Olympics for a myriad of reasons, while maybe they tried as hard as they could and avoiding all illegal and immoral means to achieve the goal desired?
Have they failed, or have they been successful?
Consider now someone who uses all sorts of “shortcuts” and illegal drugs and achieves top results. Was he successful?
The same applies, in my view, to all other aspects of life.
V
vjnycguy
Guest
Success is and continues to be defined as getting up one more time than you’ve fallen.
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Jala
Guest
Being able to sleep at night without a guilty conscience, and look at yourself in the mirror in the morning without shame.
Jala
Jala
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John_of_Woking
Guest
Success is taking up your cross and following Christ even if it means losing your job, life and friends
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jpjd
Guest
People will answer this question based on what they value in life.
When we say that someone is successful, we are referring to the fact that they have achieved something. But to ask “How do you define success”… well, everyone’s values are different, and so “success” will be different to each person depending on what they value.
What area is it important to you to achieve in? Religious people want to achieve heaven. In the material world, people want to achieve a particular level of income, or status, or material possessions, or power, or fame, etc. Other people want to achieve close family ties, or a strong marriage. I may consider myself successful, but someone else may not if I haven’t achieved what they value.
You have to figure out what success is to you. What success is to any of us doesn’t really have any bearing on what success is to you, does it?
When we say that someone is successful, we are referring to the fact that they have achieved something. But to ask “How do you define success”… well, everyone’s values are different, and so “success” will be different to each person depending on what they value.
What area is it important to you to achieve in? Religious people want to achieve heaven. In the material world, people want to achieve a particular level of income, or status, or material possessions, or power, or fame, etc. Other people want to achieve close family ties, or a strong marriage. I may consider myself successful, but someone else may not if I haven’t achieved what they value.
You have to figure out what success is to you. What success is to any of us doesn’t really have any bearing on what success is to you, does it?
J
jeannetherese
Guest
I think that when we reach the end of our days and look back at our lives, we will define success by the quality of our relationships: our relationship with Our Lord, with our families, with our neighbors, with our communities.
Note:now I want to edit my post in light of that by John of Woking who emphasizes carrying ones cross. His reminder that there are people out there living very solitary lives and carrying their crosses for Our Lord is an important corrective to my immediate response.
Our relationship with Our Lord first with all else flowing from this…
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TheRealJuliane
Guest
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drafdog
Guest
Because the only thing I can bring before the throne of God is the relationships I have made with those whom He has placed in my life, I can only put down the following:
I have four grown children. They all love me. My foster children (17 or so) were all fond of my wife and me. My late wife loved and cared for me for 37 years. The woman I am dating (again… we dated in college forty years ago) loves me.
On the whole I think I can bring something of value with me in the end. My faults and failings I leave to Him to cover.
Reb Levi
I have four grown children. They all love me. My foster children (17 or so) were all fond of my wife and me. My late wife loved and cared for me for 37 years. The woman I am dating (again… we dated in college forty years ago) loves me.
On the whole I think I can bring something of value with me in the end. My faults and failings I leave to Him to cover.
Reb Levi
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