What has been your greatest success so far in your life?

Question

Does success make you happy?

My question was inspired by considering my own life, and deciding that just being alive is my greatest accomplishment, although that is not all of my own doing. This accomplishment even has a mysterious, mystical component which I only discuss with trusted confidants.

Answer 1

thats relative. one person may say their children is their greatest success. another may say finishing college and landing a great job that pays well. another person may say that spending his entire life carefree and living everyday for the moment is his greatest success. then again the homeless man on the corner may say his greatest success is surviving. mine is really irrelevent.

Answer 2

I won several academic awards & medals through high school & university. Graduated with an honours B.A. degree.
I travelled to Europe and climbed a mountain in Bavaria.
I've had several poems published in literary journals.
Been in a TV commercial & did some modelling work.
Shown my artwork & sold a few paintings.
Wrote 200 songs & performed at local venues (singing, playing guitar).
Had my picture on the front page of the local newspaper.
Won a Sony LCD TV by writing a song for a contest.
Have an interview on the radio tomorrow night.
Bought a detached house by myself...


but the greatest success I've achieved is learning to love myself. It's been a long time coming. I always pushed myself to be the best & still felt worthless. I was a perfectionist who could never reach perfection and therefore was always unhappy. I'm finally learning to cut myself some slack. To like who I am & to be proud of what I've accomplished. I finally realized I'm not doing too badly at all.

Loving yourself, being happy with who you are is the greatest success anyone could have. More valuable than all the riches in the world. Better than any trophy. We each have value as people. Each of us brings something unique to the world. We must be proud of that. We shouldn't be so hard on ourselves. We are all different. We must celebrate our individual strengths rather than focusing on our weaknesses.

It's still an uphill battle for me to be positive. I've been negative most of my life. But it can be learned. Happiness is a choice.

Answer 3

I have three children who are healthy, intelligent, hardworking, kind, and loving. I have always told them that their successes will reflect well on them and on me. And I have told them that their weaknesses and failures will reflect on me as well. I have told them that being good citizens, friends, spouses and parents will show their respect and love to me as well as to the other important people in their lives. I have tried to teach them by example, to praise their attempts to do what I asked and to forgive when they did things against my wishes. All my children have been successful students and are in the early years of careers in fields in which they are passionate. Naturally, we have had our ups and downs, but nothing so dramatic as the problems of many of their peers. I have been very blessed with these children and consider them to be the proof of my greatest success, that of parent. I have also worked the last 30 plus years outside the home and I like to think I am a successful businessperson as well. Some day I will retire from this 9-5 career, but my family will benefit me and our community for many decades to come. That is success.

Answer 4

Surrendering to God (I am right strong willed by nature) and finding peace in the journey. Learning to Praise Him even through the Storms of Life, and beginning to have a more positive outlook on life. And, practically speaking, I was just blessed with a Fellowship to pursue my PhD.

All the above brings me peace and joy, and those things are way bigger to me than just being happy.

Answer 5

Good question, and I have mulled it over at some length, and have come to the conclusion that it's a close call between learning to tie my own shoe laces, and doing joined-up writing.

However, 'Progress' rendered the joined-up writing moot, who writes anything by hand these days ? Another pyrrhic victory, so I guess the shoe laces have it.

Do such things make me happy ? I am earnestly striving to get to a place where everything makes me happy. :-)

Answer 6

Realizing that the awareness behind my eyes comes from the same place as the awareness behind any.

Contentment makes you happy which I beleive comes through mutually reciprocating with and within all that surrounds. Only then are any complete.

That is why most humans are neither successful or happy.
We as a species have yet to find balance.

Answer 7

My son and family life.

While others struggle to be happy, it comes soooooooooo easily for us. While others struggle to raise kids or don't raise them at all, I have a son that is a dream come true. While others were telling me I was too strict, I now sit back and watch my son at the age of 20 have more out of life than most 50 years olds.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh life is good !

Answer 8

Taking my mom in when she really needed my intervention.
I got home hospice for her - after my dining room became her bedroom.
I was at her bedside when she took her last breath. The visiting nurse association came everyday to help me, because they knew as a caregiver I was so lost.

I wish I could call her again - just for girl talk.
Mothers are not appreciated now - but I know we'll come back into fashion. We're just not "in vogue".

GOD bless us always.
CPA-retired
MBA-Boston Univ.

Answer 9

hi buzz, we meet again. my greatest success is being a good
mother to my two beautiful children

Answer 10

My kids.

Love and blessings Don