In our societies we use “success” a lot, and we

think we know just what it means: money; status;

fame; and power. But take a look at the dictionary
and things start to look, thankfully, a lot more
complicated because success is in truth rather
more neutral and less value-laden than we tend to
assume.

It just means doing anything well and excelling at

something, and that might encompass a lot of
activities. Running a 100 metres, for sure.
Selling your app for a lot of money, OK. But also
stranger, less heralded things like listening a
lot very attentively to a child or being extremely
kind to strangers, or filling your mind with
interesting ideas or associations, or knowing just
when to put an arm around someone when it’s just
too much for them. People who triumph here are
also big success stories.

No-one can be successful at everything. Whatever,

they tell us, it’s almost impossible to succeed
with a career and with family, or with popularity
and integrity. There are always sacrifices. It’s
good to be successful, it’s even better to make
sure you’ve followed your own distinctive and not
necessarily always obvious path to the success
that can truly fulfil you.

Alan de Botton
The School of Life

www.film-english.com by Kieran Donaghy