Success can be a very allusive goal. When you get to where you think success is found, you may find it isn’t as satisfying as it appeared and other people will rate your success differently than you do; raising the bar for success even higher. Some of the most successful people in the entertainment world are the most miserable. They think that one more major project, one more award, will finally satisfy them; but it doesn’t. Successful business executives with huge incomes continue to search for one more deal that will give them the satisfaction they seek, but they eventually discover the ladder to success is an unending climb.
I have found over the years that happiness is a much better goal than success. It is also much easier to find because it is something that you can develop within you; not dependent on others. I saw a post on Face Book recently that was a photo of a family farm with the caption, “The happiest people are not the ones who have everything. The happiest people are the ones who appreciate everything they have.” Dale Carnegie put it this way, “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.”
I have written before about the “pursuit of happiness” mentioned in our Declaration of Independence. It really doesn’t take much pursuing. All you have to do is count your blessings; write each of them down and concentrate on all that God has done for you. You will suddenly discover your happiness has been hiding behind your gratitude all along. Gratitude is a very strong emotion that drives out all sorts of negativity from our lives.
As children of God, we have a head start toward happiness because of the joy that comes with our newly born spirit and God’s mercy and grace. If we stop expecting others to make us happy and allow God to produce happiness within us, we will be free to share our happiness with everyone around us. The best feeling of happiness is being happy because you have madde someone else happy. Success without fulfillment is the worst form of failure; but true happiness is the best form of success.