SUCCESS WITHOUT FULFILLMENT.

Human beings, no matter who they are or where they live, all want to be “successful.” This success is usually defined by the superficial rewards that are so glorified by the media: wealth, power, fame, luxury and prestige.

The goal of material achievement is drilled into us from an early age. Parents urge their children to work hard so they can be “somebody.” Schools add to the pressure by using competitive grading and by offering rewards for outstanding performances.

Bookstores are loaded with manuals that instruct readers how to get to the top of their fields so they can accumulate power, wealth and influence, and magazines, complete with cover photos that glamorize the rich and the famous, boldly promise shortcuts to success.

This relentless pursuit of “success” has produced some unglamorous results. Divorce and suicide rates continually climb. Violence, environmental destruction and white collar crime plague every community.

Emotional depression, particularly in men and women between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four, has multiplied tenfold over the last two generations.

The internal benchmarks that denote personal and corporate fulfillment are noticeably missing from our world, and a positive sense of direction that encompasses the totality of life is obviously lacking for the majority of people.

This poverty of satisfaction and meaningful existence is no small matter. A professional career and a large bank account cannot provide these absent ingredients.

No amount of accomplishments can replace the power and the motivation of finding your own special niche and working toward your dreams. Inner emptiness is the lot of those who lack a clarity of purpose or those who struggle to live up to someone else’s definition of success, be it that of a parent, a spouse, a boss or society in general.

Reaching the top of the professional or social ladder is meaningless if it sacrifices personal gratification and well-being.

As children, we learned to see academic, professional and financial achievements as good, and failures of any kind as bad. Thus, the measures of achievement we received from the previous generations have always been outwardly directed.

Success in the eyes of others has been assumed to be personal success, for acclaim from others is the accepted requirement for receiving the “successful” label
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