Musing on your best shot at "success" in life - a modern theory

You can build yourself up over time through pure luck or natural gifts or a combination of patience and hard work…

Immense gains easily and effortlessly afforded by first two can be swept away in the blink of an arrogant eye; whereas the latter provides a residual knowledge, confidence and ability that serve as a foundation for rebuilding and recovering from any setback or loss.

Thus, dedication and determination are rewarded in life – in any walk of life. This is a simple truth that is not apparent to entitled youth or those subverted by selfish mentors.

So often we see and read about the downfall of so called ‘celebrities’ in the quick win obsessed culture of the 21st century, that it becomes a voyeuristic delight to the disenfranchised masses.
“Pride comes before a fall” Proverbs 16-18

It can be argued that the only thing to ever last is time itself. It therefore follows that one must strike a careful balance between betting on tomorrow by saving one’s joy for a time in the future and living for the moment; neither dwelling on a past that cannot be changed or a future that is ever unknown and unpredictable.

Mind – Body – Heart – Soul

The interdependency of the human spirit and the delicate conceptual symbiosis necessary to achieve the most ephemeral of concepts: happiness.

Some may choose or be guided to invest more heavily in one element of the equation than another. Although this process may well be founded in a blueprint for survival that has proven effective over multiple generations, it is almost certain to fail in terms of reaching self-actualization as depicted by Maslow or enlightenment in Buddhism.

So what?

Is there a useful recommendation to emerge from all of this philosophical pontificating? Yes and no:
To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld’s “Known unknowns and unknown unknowns”: we can be sure that easy wins are fleeting and temporary with a level of satisfaction commensurate with the effort invested by the winner; whereas the true value and likelihood of reward from honest graft and tireless devotion remains unquantifiable – a leap of faith.

Faith is therefore the logical and intuitive element of the equation which is just out of reach like a feather on the breeze and yet also ever-present as a waking dream.