A new way of defining success

How do you define success for yourself? When do you feel successful? Is it even something you strive for?

I think we can’t escape the constant drive for success, accomplishment and productivity. Our society and how we were raised in the capitalistic world rules this way. Is there a way out of this burden?

When someone asks me how I define success for myself, I always say that it would feel like freedom, connection, abundance, joy, creativity, authenticity.

But what if these terms are only a different description of the same striving and hustle culture: a striving to avoid, to get away from a feeling like sadness, loneliness, heaviness, separation, not being enough to these more ‘favorable’ feelings?

What if success is a term that sets you up for experiencing lack and scarcity?

What if success is you being alive and that you can experience a new day?

That you can watch the sun rising, the seagulls flying over a wave?

That you can listen to the sound of the waves, walking barefoot along the shoreline?

What if waking up and getting out of your bed, looking out of the window while drinking your coffee and wondering what this day may bring, is the most important success of all?

What if you allow yourself to be as you are, to create something when your heart is calling you, to feel joy in your life and be grateful for it, is the biggest accomplishment in your life?

What if we would define success anew?

Success is just being, sharing the beauty of being alive, the wonder of life, just like the ocean shares its magic through sending its tides to us every day anew.