You and I live in a society that gives us measuring sticks for success.
The experts tell us that we all want to be successful. So, in order to know when we are successful, there’s got to be some quantification or qualification to which we can measure ourselves so that we can feel that we are successful.
A number of the quantifiers come in the area of finances. If one has enough money, then that individual is successful. Sometimes it is established in the area of power. If one is powerful enough, if one controls enough, then that person is considered to be successful. Sometimes, the measurement is all about fame. If one is famous enough, then he or she is successful. So then the questions become: How will I know when I am successful? How will I know when it’s enough?
I happen to believe that none of those three criteria is a good measuring stick for significance and real success in life.
Money, power, and fame have never brought me a deep sense of significance or purpose in life.
Significance has nothing to do with how much money I can accumulate. It has nothing to do with how many people I control or have power over. It has nothing to do with how many people know me or don’t know me.
You may not influence people from the Arctic Circle, but you may influence somebody in your family or church or school or job. You may change his or her life for the better.
I can think of no better way to experience and achieve significance in life than to know that my life positively impacts another life, or two, or hundred, or thousand, for the better.
- Exercise:
What do you envision as the definition of significance for you?
Integral Development Forum 