Daily writing prompt

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

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I first met the word success and its definition when I was an undergrad. College was by far the biggest exposure of life. Success mostly looked like the Nepo kids of Bollywood taking on center stage as my seniors. Success also looked like rich kids that came driving to college. Success made its first appearance as money and flamboyance. Moving on, success seemed like the grades, like that degree and that post graduate qualification. But more than anything else, success still looked like money. And then, there emerged a whole new definition of success – settling overseas! And foreign never meant Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or China. It always meant the UK or the USA. Places that represented wealth, affluence and everything Hollywood. Something we never had.

When I moved out of India, I felt I also tasted some part of success. And life went on. The meaning of success altered at every step. Sometimes, it meant getting into a good relationship, at other times it meant marriage, followed by kids and a whole new repetition of the same experiences for the kids. But no matter what, the only constant spot in the definition was clinched by money.

But where I stand today, success seems completely different compared to the past 25 years. Success seems more like contentment. The feeling of being in acceptance of everything life throws at me. Success seems more like feeling neutral no matter how much or how little money I have. Success seems more like feeling fluid rather than clinging to an identity I so painstakingly created over the past twenty five years – of being a good daughter, sister, student, employee, wife, mother and so on. Success now seems like being at peace with any role I play. No matter how well or how poorly I play it. Success seems being in the non-judgmental state, be it for myself or for anyone else. For we are all in that fluid state, constantly evolving, whether we realize it or not. And so the first person that reminds me of success has changed with the state of my changing and ever evolving consciousness.

At some point, I looked upto my seniors at school and college. Then there were those Bollywood kids. Next, my seniors at work. Then my own brother who moved out of India. At some point, I also considered myself successful. My spouse, my friends, business tycoons, women breaking glass ceilings and finally spiritual teachers. And after this entire game of chasing success, I feel like I have come back home. Back to the pavilion where it all started.

P.S. Success is what we perceive as a time of and position in life that gives us utmost joy and pleasure. But as we chase more, receive more and sometimes lose more, it becomes clear, the definition of success evolves in direct proportion to our own inner journey. Ultimately, success seems more like the ability to stay grounded and understand we are not limited to the identity we chart for ourselves. Success is not restricted to outwardly and material affluence. Each one of us is infinite, but limited to the mind that defines success. The more we grow internally, the more we understand success in a different light.