THE CONCEPT OF SUCCESS - Where do you find success?

Where do I find success? The question at our disposal now upon first sight looks more of geographical location or orientation. But I want to state categorically that there is no specific location whereby success can be found. In fact, success is everywhere. One might have basics for argument on the fact that some people leave their homes for places of greener pastures, but nevertheless, what they seek is wealth and not success. So therefore we revive the question again; where can we find success, where does it come from, who gives it and how can we identify it when we see one? In this noble country where we hold religion up high as a vital element for human existence, it is very normal to hear people say that; ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and it shall be opened, God is the answer to all thy question, and so on. Personally, I do not have any problem with the above statements; only that I want to ask; what of those who do not believe in the existence of God? Does that mean they cannot achieve success at all? Contrary to that, it is evidently clear that most of the people we regard as rich and famous, the celebrities, the superstars, etc are the advocates of atheism. They do believe that the world was not created by a scientifically and that there is nothing as a supreme being, not to talk of the day of resurrection.

Moreover, I believe that nothing can be possible in a man’s life unless that which God has willed for him. Indeed despite this strong belief more has to be done I our quest for success. No matter the level of your faith and sincerity to your creator, if you don’t get up and work to make a difference, you will die as a prophet without honor. I want to relate this to an incident that happened a long time ago. I remember a practical demonstration by my Uncle on how faith moves with action. There was a man who normally spends almost all his time in the mosque praying to Allah. Then one day, my Uncle and I upon his usual act of sharing his lunch with most of the people at the mosque, he brought food to the mosque, shared it and did not give that man intentionally. Upon intending to leave, he said; one bowl is left and yet everyone has been served. Just at that very moment, this man began to clear his throat in a very strange way, not knowing he was trying to signal to my Uncle that he has not been served yet. Then the food was given to him. Upon our return, my Uncle explained to me that faith without work is far from righteousness. Initially, I never saw the work that the man did before he got the food. But upon further reminisce, I came to understand that the work he did was the efforts he made to signal my Uncle in a form of clearing his throat. If he had not done that, he wouldn’t have had that meal. Can you imagine this? He spends all his time praying, but the little work he did earned his lunch. You can image what he has been missing out there. God is ready to give you what you want, He just wants you to make an effort and start doing something.

 Every human being who wishes to fly successfully on the jurisdiction of his religion should have two wings, thus; belief and practice. An elimination of one renders the other insignificant and less functional. As it is said that;

“Belief without practice is meaningless as practice without belief is also meaningless.” Anonymous.

I say, point blank that success is from the inner self, can be expressed by way of decision and identified by the process in achieving them. This simply means that to become successful, first and foremost the intention, the motivation and the desire should be set right. This is followed by conscious, consistent and moral processes to achieve them.

Success by way of decision has to do with the individual selecting from several alternatives from what he or she wants. It is no deferent from the intention needed to process ones future desire. Dear reader, the things you do each and every blessed day, sums up to build your future. Furthermore, consistency of doing the right thing; despite the quantity, amounts to something positive in the future. Indeed we are not only interested in just the decision making, but actually the right one. It leaves you to choose or decide to be good or bad, happy or sad, successful or a failure; all depending on what you decide to do. The type of decision you make distinguish you from your mates at school and work despite the fact that you are all doing the same thing. Two laborers on a construction site were questioned on what they were doing. The first one said; “we are just laying bricks and we never finish, it’s so boring.” the other said that; “we are on the verge of building a magnificent world class medical facility, which will live long to benefit the people in my community. It’s the first of its kind and I am so happy to part of it.”

We can see that both workers are doing the same thing but based on their individual decisions and intensions, they are entirely different from each other. At the end of the day, the second laborer had a promotion because of the wiliness of work and happiness backed by the decision to do for the sake of society. Another thing to note is that, the second one does not care whether he is in list of contributors or not, whether he is recognized or not; all that he knows, is that he is part of the winning team working hard to transform the face of society. So therefore it’s your decision to either be part of the brick layers or the wining team working to transform the face of society.

At this juncture, we can give a concrete, well accepted and applicable definition for success as;

“The positive intention or willingness of heart backed by the ability to bring out what you are for the benefit of where you are.”

 Looks very narrow and too simple as one may choose to call it but indeed, based on our analysis, that is the true definition of success. Do not be self-centered in you deciding on what you want to accomplish in life. Let not your decisions based on your own personal benefit but rather that of the society and the future generation. History will judge all of us not based on what we have achieved for ourselves, but the positive impact our achievement has on the society. Always do things with the sole aim that one day someone will benefit from it. I remember the very statement of advice my father gave me when I turned eighteen. He looked at me and said; “if people say don’t do this, do it if you are sure it will be of benefit someday. And is they say you should do this, avoid it if you are sure it is for the best interest of the future. For our judgment lies not in the hands of the present but rather the future.” These few words have been my source of motivation and have broadened my horizon on what man should be aiming at achieving in life. It is very evident that the very people we know in the history of this world who stood for the right thing to be done were at most point in their lives opposed and misjudged by their very generation. But because they understood this simple philosophy of success, they never bordered about what people said or did, but rather what they think will benefit the future generation for indeed, their judgment laid in our hands. Most of these people, heroes as we call them, in the likes of; Malcrom Ex, Martin Luther Kings Jnr., Abraham Lincoln and our very own Nelson Madiba Mandela and Osagefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, were all deemed as the enemies of yesterday but heroes of today.

Don’t go to school because you want to be employed, go to school because you want society to benefit from your knowledge. Don’t be a doctor because of the salary and working condition, be a doctor because you want to save a life. Don’t be a farmer because man must survive, be a farmer because you want to feed the nation. Whatever it is that you are doing, do it with the society at heart. Do not wait to be a C.E.O. before you start doing something? Don’t wait to get a job before you can do something for the orphan in your neighborhood? In fact, do not wait for opportunities; start to create these opportunities yourself. You don’t have to be an extraordinary person in life; you only have to be a simple person doing extraordinary things. It doesn’t matter where you live or come from, whether it is poverty or you live in a hat or a kiosk or whatever; just brighten the corner where you are. Take the bold step of transforming your society for the better. Don’t let the future generation point fingers of blame at you. Let them count you as part of those who toke the right decisions and stood firmly for the truth to prevail-the right thing to be done. Don’t force yourself to be in front. Even if you are relegated to the background, it is none of your business. Let them take all the applause; let them take all the praises. Besides if you are denied what is rightfully yours, the future will judge us all. Your business is to make sure that your positive impact is felt by the society so that deep down in your heart, you know that you are the hero, the icon, the source of change the people are enjoying. That feeling alone, money can never buy. Nevertheless, one day you will reap the results of your hard work tenfold and you will become victorious. This, my dear reader is true success.

Indeed, many great men have come and gone, but when you start counting, don’t forget the man who always weeds the park even though he never gets paid, don’t forget the woman who always sweeps the market place even though you never greet her, don’t forget the old man who always guards the mosque or church. These people are vital treasures that make the society glow in the light of development. Don’t underestimate what you are doing. You never know who you are likely to meet on the way, you never know who next will walk into your little shop, and you never know how that early morning smile made someone forget all his nightmares. Whatever that you do, let it be but for the interest of society.