Sunday, September 26, 2010

Success : Things aren't always as they seem

What makes a man successful? What is the driving force that enables someone to forget everything and persevere towards his or her own betterment? This is a debate that can go on for hours, but I would take this opportunity to point out a few crucial factors that cannot be ignored.

I don't generally write serious articles here, but then the previous year has brought about that change in my  mind. A change that has compelled me to shed the facetious side of me behind. I've heard, read, seen thousands of people saying that a Rolling Stone gathers no moss, and now as I listen to "You can't always get what you want" by the Rolling Stones, I truly comprehend the meaning of it.The adage was meant to convey he following :

It was meant to suggest that while a stone moves continuously, it has no time to gather moss as moss can only be gathered by a stationary object.

This translates literally with the stone becoming a person and the moss becoming commitment, problems or anything perceived as negative, trying to gather on the person who in turn keeps moving, preventing problems gathering in the first place.

But another inference can be drawn from this as well. See, the worldly commitments, problems etc. that man seeks to prevent and set himself free from are what makes man's life man's. If you were to ask a person what makes human beings human and different from an animal, the answer would be society. Humans crave society, can't live without society, so, as they seek to relieve themselves of this burden of commitment, simultaneously, they find themselves desiring social contact at the same time. This is the Catch-22 that we find ourselves entangled in. Not everyone can be a real life Chris Mcandless(See the movie "Into the Wild").

These "problems" have to be forsaken to become successful in life as well, I have noticed. This argument can easily be proven by citing the examples of Einstein, Galileo, Da Vinci (These greats might have had brief romances in their lives but in the end pursuit for excellence was what they were truly after). This can be seen even today, albeit on a smaller scale, in every ambitious working person's life.

What are we here for? If given a hundred choices, the choice that most people would go for is HAPPINESS. Yes, that 9 letter word that remains so elusive. People pursue titles, people pursue fame, people pursue job opportunities, but what about happiness, that is something that can be obtained only by gathering the proverbial moss. The true secret to happiness is learning to live with yourself, learning to be content with what you have done in life thus far. This by no means means spurning ambition, the drive towards betterment, only if that ambition is towards making yourself content.

What did I hope to achieve with this ambiguous article? I would love to write a simple :"Nothing! Thanks for wasting a good five minutes understanding this but I was just in a mood to pull someone's leg through my words" but no, the aim was to spread faith in oneself.

Anyone can prosper, the trick is realizing this first.