Willravel

I was talking with some old high school friends this morning when I mentioned to one that I was glad he was successful. He opened up a martial arts school after graduating and is doing well there, as well as being engaged to a wonderful woman he's totally in love with and who's totally in love with him. To my surprise, he said that he didn't see himself as successful. I thought it was an odd thing and asked him. He explained that he wasn't sure if this was the place he wanted to be, and thus he wasn't necessarily successful in his own eyes, despite appearing so to me. It got me thinking about the subjective nature of success.

What is success to you, and do you qualify under your own meaning?

Speaking for myself, I'd have to give a resounding maybe. In some ways I believe that I'm successful, but in other ways I am not. I make enough money to support myself and help my family, I love my family and they love me, and other such things, but I find it difficult to look inwards at myself from the outside and say "He's a success" without an asterisk or two. I'm not sure if it's normal 'room for improvement' types of things where I'm still growing or mistakes, but it's not 100%. I wonder if 100% would mean narcissism, denial, or fulfillment?