There's a story of success that dominates western culture. The story goes something like this: To be happy means to be successful. Or, to be fulfilled means to be successful. And so, many people make their entire lives the pursuit of success. To rise to the top. To do what not many people do. This is admirable. This is normal.
Ah, but the story of success has to do with one person only, and that's the person pursuing success. It's not enough. Personal success is not enough. Not that it's wrong to be successful, but the pursuit of being a success alone is not enough.
Who cares if just the individual finds success? That's great and all. Really it is. But what about everyone else? What is in it for them?
Let's think of it like this:
Let's say there are 10 kids on a stranded island. Granted, it is each of the 10 kids responsibility to take care of themselves.
Let's say 1 of those 10 kids becomes really "successful" at being responsible. Compared to the other kids, it brings in 10 meals a day compared to the average 1 meal a day. Point being, 1 kid has a surplus while the rest have not much.
Now it's not necessarily the 1 kids responsibility to feed everyone since he is doing all the work. But, it is at least his responsibility to teach everyone who is willing and wanting to learn, how to copy and do for themselves what the 1 kid already does.
Point is this, we have to seek to do more than just achieve our personal success. It has to be the success of all entities. All parties.
Everyone is happy. Everyone is free. Everyone is successful.
