Measuring Sticks

On 3/4/17 Kev writes, I type:


How do you measure success? Most people believe success is measured by decimal points and dollar signs. Success is not measured by the numeric value of your bank account or by the outside appearance of material assets you have obtained. Success is a much more spiritual and internal concept that most of us have a hard time grasping. Some of us spend an entire lifetime searching for "our" version of success. What we end up doing is spending that time chasing happiness instead of ever truly finding it. Sometimes, the happiness we end up chasing becomes a trap, sometimes it ends up becoming a prison.
I used to measure my version of success through how I was perceived by other people because I was never able to truly understand and accept myself. I think most young people in today's world can relate to this. When we rely on perceptions of others to define who we are, we lose our true identity. When we learn to accept ourselves from within happiness will reveal itself in the form of our actions and decisions. I've found my own negative choices and the consequences of those choices are merely the outward expression of my own internal discontent.
Being able to find contentment within myself has allowed me to redirect my focus, and has been able to show me what happiness means to me. Through this newfound happiness I've experienced true change and through that change I am able to help change others. I measure success by what I've overcome. When we make one mistake, we must learn two lessons that will push us further forward. If we succumb to our mistakes instead of trying to learn those lessons, we only push ourselves back further from where we want to be. In the evolution of self our greatest achievement is progress not perfection.
We are each born into a prison. That prison is ourselves. Don't let your internal perception become an outward expression defined by destruction. I want each of you to look in the mirror and smile. Realize this: Life, your life, is greater than all the wars we wage. It burns brighter than any star. We are precious, fragile but brilliant beings. Do not strive to be perfect because in return you will never truly live. Strive to be human, find contentment within yourself and project your light through an expression of happiness. You can be your own success story, measured by your happiness.


Today's Positive Affirmation: I am an outward expression of internal happiness....