For quite some time I've heard it said that anyone can have great success in this world if they truly want it, but I've never known anyone who truly succeeded alone... although theoretically, or if you are a Divine Being, it may be possible.
No doubt our decisions and who we are decide a lot of things we may not even be aware of at the time, if ever, but there are so many other factors involved that also come into play.
It's true that there are the grand success stories of people who were deprived as children go on to become very successful, but there are also many who would desire the same thing and work long and hard for it and never achieve it.
There are many who go to Hollywood with an intense desire to become rich and famous, and who would sell their soul to the devil to get it, but we all know that many never achieve that.
There are many very talented people who are never recognized except by people they know personally, although they take advantage of every opportunity to have their works seen.
A person can desire a wonderful marriage and be someone who is very capable, whom everyone respects and loves, only to have their marriage end in disaster because their partner suddenly got bored...but then there are those who would say it didn't end that way because the partner got bored. They'd say that they made the wrong decision when they chose their partner, despite the fact that at the time that person truly wanted the same thing and was just as capable.
People can always look back and say they see where there were signs of it that they hadn't seen before, but since nothing is ever perfect, you can always find a flaw to pin it on. There may well be a reason, but it might not have anything to do with the person who desired the perfect marriage and was the perfect spouse... so the simple reason would be to say that they chose the wrong person... which is very shallow, and the one left holding the bag becomes the one who made the mistake, long before there was anything amiss to be detected. It might be just that a lot of things affected the spouse until one day they simply changed their direction... for reasons that even they may not fully understand, so no matter how close they were and how much they talked about things, these were things the spouse had no way of knowing...
Success is never achieved simply by one's own efforts and ability to know what to do when, or their talents, education, personality or whatever!
A child who has advantages because of the family they are born into doesn't succeed simply by their own ability to get ahead (although they can sabotage it it by not making good use of the opportunities, etc that are there for them to use. But anyone who succeeds doesn't do it alone. ) They have had advantages many never get.
For some, their success comes from purchasing the winning lottery ticket.. and if it's a scratch-off, it doesn't even depend on them picking the winning numbers. Some will be well-off for the rest of their lives because they handle it well and know how to, or know trustworthy, knowledgeable people who assist them in doing so... Others may not know how to handle it and lose it. Of course, some may choose to squander it... but that's another matter... The issue here is in being able to get it in the first place.
For someone to be successful, of course they have to be able to discern good advice from the not so good advice and be willing to stand up to those who try to impose their advice, have a lot of energy, and " all that" , but that still doesn't rule out the fact that noone can be successful without assistance.
The one who wins a thousand dollars a week simply because they purchased the winning ticket and didn't consult anyone else before doing so, and just went ahead and did it themselves, still didn't do it alone. They won it because someone created this way of getting the money in the first place. They won it because a lot of other people put their money into it hoping THEY would win. They won it because someone was working behind the counter to be able to sell it to them... the factors are endless. They didn't just do it by themselves. What they DID do was make the purchase.
It takes a lot of people who know their jobs to be able to build a little vacation cottage... although it may be the idea of one person who had it in mind at the beginning, or who might have even built it all by the sweat of their own brow and the knowledge in their own heads. More than likely, someone else made the tools they used to build it. Someone else approved it for the zoning. Someone else gave them the job that provided the funds, to be able to purchase the materials, to build it. Someone else taught them how to build it... even if it was from a book they read. Someone else wrote the book.
We must do our part, to be sure... just as those others do theirs, or nothing gets accomplished... but noone can be successful without others who do their part, too...
As children, many of us remember building something from blocks... Someone purchased them for us. Someone showed us how to put them together... and bit by bit, we also learned from trial and error... and created something from the idea we held in our minds. But you can't rule out the others who did their part.
How many times, as children, did we start to build something only to have the dog race through and destroy it... or the little brother or sister knock it to pieces... repeatedly. So, perhaps we decide to build it in a safer place... in the sanctity of our own room, with a lock on the door, and no dogs allowed... so there it is... but that is limited success, isn't it? Like the artist who paints only for the people he knows, or the musician who plays only for people on the street, for example, because it is the only way they can do it and not have it get destroyed one way or another. Yes, they are successful, to that degree... and it may be a pure pleasure for them, but perhaps that isn't ALL they wanted in this world...
Maybe they wanted to be able to become an architect, or an artist who not only painted, but perhaps painted murals in grand public places, or a musician who becomes a legend... all wanting to live an advantaged life, with all their needs met, able to provide well for their loved ones, and able to create more and better things to share with the world... but they didn't get the support to be able to accomplish that, despite the fact that they may be well educated, liked by many and have good jobs... maybe they just didn't have the time to pursue their desire because they were working so hard just to maintain what they had.
If you are blessed with a pleasant life, appreciate all those whose life is in it too... thank The Universe, Lady Luck, God... or , or whatever you call it... that you had the opportunity...
A rather common analogy being...... to be one of those who were able to ride the merry-go-round and grab the golden ring......
...... The idea of it came into someone's mind, was planned out by someone who knew how to draw the plans, was built by someone who got others to harvest the trees the ponies were made from, by those who knew how to sculpt them, paint them, put them onto the base, by those who hauled it to that location, installed it, assembled it, created the tools by which to do all of this, by those who had the knowledge, skill, equipment and metal, that was mined and refined by still others, who forged the golden ring that with your skills and being in the right place at the right time, by the Grace of God, or Lady Luck, or whoever you want to give credit to, you were able to grab.
You might have known where the merry-go-round was and been able to get there to ride it, and maybe your skill did enable you to get it, but ... did you really get there all by yourself? Did you walk in bare feet, or drive a CAR, or take a BUS or something?
And perhaps it was a phone call from someone who so annoyed you that you felt a greater than usual desire to thrust your arm out there and grab something and not let it go until it succumbed... and your real desire at that time wasn't really to be kind... but luckily for you, your original intention was to get out there and ride the merry-go-round... rather than going to jail ( so you're not a Divine Being? ) ... a wise decision... and you made it yourself... OR DID YOU?
... and why YOU?.... but that's enough for one sitting...
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