Do You Consider Your Life A Failure or Successful?

[MAXIMUS POWERS]

Do You Consider Your Life A Failure or Successful?

 

How do you define successful? Does it mean having loads of money or a big house and an expensive car? This to me seems like how most people define being successful and many are working towards achieving their materialist goals. However many of these people are sad and suffer from many abbreviated conditions.

 

On the other side of the spectrum, there are those with modest means but who are very happy and content with whatever they have.

 

My view on this pressing issue is that such important life statements should not be reduced to two binary categories and that as Somalis and Muslims we should read between the lines and not fall for this fallacy. We should have our own parameters to define 'our' life.

 

I would personally consider my life a failure if I didn’t contribute to this world whether in the form of having many little Maxs and Maxettes or reducing my carbon footprint.

[N.O.R.F]

What is success? What is failure? What is life?

[MAXIMUS POWERS]

I was rather hoping you could shower me with answers norf!

[chubacka]

^

 

Perhaps the fault lies with question. Is anyone going to say that their life has been a total failure or a resounding success, esp if you are in the middle of the whirlwind trying to make sense of it all.

 

But yes we should have different success criterias as muslims as I think we do.

[Qandalawi]

Everyone has the potential to succeed and achieve in what they want or fail regardless of their status or age, hence, the point. There is no straight answer for this question, if the potential to either succeed or fail is there, then I don't know.

 

There are times of my life when I succeeded in what I wanted to achieve, there are times when I failed but on the other hand I think I have wasted valuable time of my life in which I could have done better things but I am still in the believe that I can make up for the bits that I wasted, the potential to yet come back and succeed again, thus I can not give a direct answer. Everyone would most certainly feel similar.

 

The other thing that makes this question even harder is the factor of 'life'? Life is immeasurable quantity, there is no time frame for it, one can for example say he failed his exam, or when he became bankrupt says he failed in his business, but life?

 

Waxa kaliya oo failure kudhacay qofka dhinta isagoon ilaahay camal fiican samaysan intuu noolaa sidaana naarta kugala.

[hodman]

How you feel is what matters not how many of society's milestones you have been able to accomplish. If you are at peace with yourself then you are a success

[Ismahaan]

That depends upon what you call Success Or Failure.

[5]

Max Power:"or reducing my carbon footprint."

 

Don't say you're one of those global warming fanatic... They'll believe anything.

[hodman]

G G what is your take on global warming?

[ADNAAN]

Success is an inside job according to this lady.

 

 

How do you Measure Success?

 

Success is an inside job. To be successful we must first think that we ARE successful.

Everyone measures it differently. Some measure it by how much money they make. Others measure it by their career path and corresponding title.Then you have the people who measure it by the things that they have such as the size of their house, their art and jewelry and the number of cars that they own. Others measure it by the state of their health.

 

As children, many of us measured success by the friends we had. Were we in the “in-group” at that back table in the cafeteria, or were we outside looking in?

 

So I’ll ask it again … how do you measure success? It’s different for everyone.

 

As I sat down at my computer today to put together our newsletter, I decided to search on-line to see what articles I could come up with on this topic. So I did a search on the words “success articles” to see what other people have written about it.

 

You know what I got? Thousands of pages of success stories … from health to business to website marketing to you name it. Page after page of advice on how to be successful at this and how to be successful at that.

 

Gave me quite a headache. It sure seems like everyone has an opinion on what I should be doing and how I should be doing it.

 

In my humble opinion, success cannot be measured in the material things that I have, nor can it be measured by my job title (and I have a lot of those). To me, success is an inside job. To be successful you must FEEL successful on the INSIDE.

 

You can have all the money, houses and status that you like, but if you do not FEEL successful on the inside, then you will feel like a hamster running on it’s wheel in a cage. You’ll be chasing success all your life and will never achieve it.

 

Easy for me to say right?

 

Listen, I’ve been in your shoes and have been on the brink of despair many times. I have been in the eye of the storm more times that I care to count. I have lived through a dark childhood, I have seen negative numbers in my bank account, and I have seen the loss of both my parents to name a few. I made it through to the other side because I never gave up, and I decided to change how I felt about it all.

 

You see when life gets you down and throws you to the ground, you have two choices … you can lie down there and wallow in it and feel sorry for yourself, or you can get up. I chose to get up.

 

Easy right?

 

Not really because it sometimes took me years to get up. Now as I sit here and write this, what song comes up on the radio? Gloria Estefan singing …

 

“Get on your feet, get up and make it happen”

 

She’s right actually ... NOW GET UP!!!

 

What I’ve learned over the years is that you have two choices. You can live your life in fear or in love. If you choose fear (like I did for years) it becomes a life-changing thought that can propel you into a direction that you don’t want to go. It feels like a runaway train that you are incapable of stopping and can’t jump off, and consumes you until you can’t think of anything else.

You become focused on the outside and obsess about what you should do and where you should go. You focus on how you should fix what is wrong in your life, and what you should be doing. You begin to get sick and tired all the time and sleep a lot. Then you begin to think that the answer to your life can be found on the outside in someone else … is there a book I can buy? A person I should visit? A doctor I should see? A tape I should listen to? Certainly someone has the answer I seek!

 

Outer focused.

 

I did it for years and years.

 

Today is a brand new day. It’s a brand new world. You can see the world as positive, abundant and prosperous or you can choose to live the old way and see the negativity, lack and fear. It’s your choice!

 

I have no answers for you because the answers you seek are already inside of you. You know them already. It’s just a matter of getting quiet and listening to your intuition. Your inner voice if you will. You know where you should be going and what you should be doing. You have all the answers!!!

 

Follow your heart because it knows the way.

 

If you want to be successful, then you must first think of yourself as successful!

 

I suggest that you write a list of what you are proud of in your life. Write each accomplishment on a piece of paper. Mine looked like this:

 

Graduated from college with a BA.

I have an incredible husband and wonderful children.

I am healthy.

Wrote three books.

And so on ...

 

BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF! You deserve it!!!

 

Now read the list. See? You already are successful!!! Look at how much you have done already!!! Be proud of that because you did an excellent job! Do I have to get Barry Manilow to sing “looks like you’ve made it” for you to believe that you already are a success?

 

So back to my original question … how do you measure success??? Do you measure it by ... money? relationships? career? health? sales?

 

If you THINK that you are successful, then you will BE successful. Whatever you think about yourself … you’re absolutely right!!!

 

How did I do it? I followed my inner voice and chose to see myself as successful. I ignored the negativity and looked at life as abundant, compassionate and prosperous. Then, when life got me down and threw me to the ground (which it still does occasionally), I got up.

 

As the United States moves into the Thanksgiving Holiday, I want to urge all of you to get up. Stand tall! You have so much to be thankful for!! Look UP and not down. Choose your new path and start walking! YOU DESERVE IT!!!

 

And when life and stress get you down?

 

Look up my friend. Look up.

 

 

copyright 2007 by Katharine Giovanni

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Life is a journey with a lot of highs and lows. However, failure is not getting up and having another go after failing. As for success, I agree with many here. Contented and peace with yourself is a success but in the meantime work hard for your dunya and help others - that IS the source of peace and content.

 

As for Aduunya, we've it all according to the hadeeth of the rasool SCW. If one is secure in his home, is healthy and has his/her food for the day, just the day, then he/she has it all. Reported by Tarmidi and said to be Hadeeth-u-hasan.

 

lol@carbon footprint. War waxaasi waa qiyaali. However, Islam thought us not to waste the resources at our disposal.

[STOIC]

No self-help book that will promise me success will make me NOT fail.I think I have the potential to succeed if only the cicumstances and the right people are there to guide and help me..I view sucess as different circumstances that includes timing, and the right opportunity at the right time.For example I was successful to come to the WEST because of my family background, were they poor I'd never have been able to come and get the right education in the WEST.Now I'll pass that previledge to my kids who will even have better opportunity than me here in the WEST...So success to me is different circumstances that interplay to lay the right foundation for my sucess or failure..To answer your question so far I'm Not that successful but I'm happy!

[Jacaylbaro]

Successful with the help of Allah ..........

[Abaay Heylay]

It depends how you define successful. So far alhamdulilah my life has been successful and i achieved most of my goals at a young age. But most of all i am sucessful because by the help of Allash and continues duaa. Your successful when your close to Allah and you are failure when u turn away from Allah. So thats how i see having a successful life.

[Ilka-dahable]

somalia nation know us fail nation we all come form somalia