Who do you see when you close your eyes and dream of the future? Are you a wealthy CEO? Are you a parent to five amazing children? Are you a lawyer? A doctor? Or are you an adventurer, who lives paycheck to paycheck, but makes every dollar count?
Traditionally, success has been connected to wealth, with people assuming a higher income means more success. But I think The Notorious B.I.G. was on to something when producing “Mo Money Mo Problems.” For those who don’t know, this song was released posthumously. The chorus lyrics are as follows:
I don’t know what, they want from me
It’s like the more money we come across
The more problems we see
The point is that jealousy creates more problems than money is worth. People always want a piece of the pie, even—or especially—if it’s somebody else’s pie. Unfortunately, people do atrocious things for money, whether it is as slight as telling white lies or as appalling as murder. Men and women alike betray their siblings, parents, friends, family, loved ones, out of pure greed, it’s a tale as old as time.
People used to think that wealth equals happiness. The millennial generation seems to understand the fallacy of this idea more than most. So many students work hard to be successful beyond graduation, but how do you measure that success? Is success really measured by money? To me, happiness seems a much better indicator of success.
As much as we are independent beings, we live in an interconnected world in which love and happiness should be measures of success. It’s all about whom you know after all. Don’t think you have to be cruel and calculating to reach your goals; be good and happy, and you will open your heart to the happiness you deserve.
Whatever it is you want, it is possible to attract it to yourself by sending positive energies into the universe. Stepping on somebody’s father, somebody’s mother, somebody’s lover, somebody’s friend to reach your goals is not true success.
Be kind, be compassionate, and above all, do what makes you happy. At the end of the day, that’s what will really count.
