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11- St. Augustine

Success

We often ask people if they were successful or what would they do to reach that thing which they call success.

However, we also often debate the real meaning of success. If you look for the word success in a dictionary you will

see that it is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Basically, the meaning of success is the achievement of a

particular goal.

Success contrasts failure. Failure is the inability to do something or reach your own objective. However, I am

constantly reminding everybody that failing once does not mean you cannot be successful anymore. Remember,

failure is not the falling down but it is staying down. Failure is what gives success its flavor and it ignites the heart of a

person to pursue the success he always wanted. Failure gives people lessons that cannot be taught by success. You

will not be able to know where you are lacking in if you did not taste the failure because it reveals the flaws that we

have or we have done.

To thrust in your path to success, various motivational speakers and even normal people are always active in

motivating you to reach your goal. They will say “go, go, go”, “skip sleep”, or “make money”. Lots of them relate

success to money, luxury houses, or cars. We always agree on what they say for the reason that we think that these

are really the keys to success. These things have their place but these things must not also be part of our priority.

The first priority that a person should have is to enjoy his life. For me, the word success is not just about the

accomplishment of goals, it is rather the enjoyment of the life you have. The enjoyment that has to be shared with

people who showed you love and support during the ups and downs of your life because you cannot bring the

physical things that you call success in the afterlife. Success is not a destination; it is a journey. If you are making a

million Pesos but lose your friends and your family, that is not a success. If you can make billions of Pesos in an hour
but lose your health in the process, is that what you call success? A lot of people sacrifice their health to build up tons

of money, after making tons of money, people sacrifice their money to rebuild their health.

Success is always aligned with working hard and grinding because, as we all know, success is the accomplishment

of your ambitions. It is correct and it is good to have ambitions but do not let your ambitions blind you from what other

things are around you. Never let your ambitions become a prison. For instance, after working hard for so long you

finally bought the car you always wanted to have. It is such a great thing to drive your dream car, sadly, you do have

somebody in the passenger seat to be with you. The reason behind it is because you have been blinded by your

ambitions and you forgot the things and people that supported you. You cannot call it success when you achieved

and gained something but lose the things that matter the most. Another example would be driving so fast but you do

not even appreciate the breeze blowing through your hair and the sceneries along the road. My suggestion for you is

to slow down and enjoy this thing called life. Success is not about what you have, rather, it is about how did you get

it.

In the end, success is always an achievement that gives you great and happy memories. It is not an achievement

that gives you happiness but steals the great memories. To determine your success, try to ask yourself these three

different questions I learned from a great influencer: How well you lived; How well you loved; and How well you

learned.