Have you ever wondered what you think about who you are? So many of us have been taught that our entire self-worth is based on accomplishment and our value in life is due to the contributions we make to society. When we do well we are awesome; when that doesn't happen we are losers?
Is it any wonder an executive with a college education working in a high- rise building making a six- figure income feels like he is on top of the world and a homeless man who does not know where his next meal will come from is viewed by many as being worthless? Is our human value so tied into our accomplishments that when you fail to achieve you are considered a failure?
This mentality of "self-worth based on accomplishment". In the movie "Trading Places" with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy Dan plays a rich Wall Street Investment Specialist working on wall street and enjoying the best money can offer. A nice place to live, nice clothes, great job and society friends. His self-esteem is centered around his job and work accomplishments. Eddie Murphy plays a broke street hustler who is out there every day trying to find his next patsy for one of his schemes.
Their roles are reversed, and Eddie becomes the Wall Street hotshot and has all the advantages Dan once enjoyed. Meanwhile Dan is reduced to be a street bum and when he tries to reach out to people in his past life for help he finds that once he has lost his position and status at work he is no longer welcome in their world.
The movie depicts how tied into our roles we have all be conditioned to. Parents may ask children questions like "how did you so on your test at school today or did you make the basketball team" and the answers for the child dictate acceptance for succeeding or rejection for failure. Parents are not trying to make their children feel bad; they are just monitoring actions and results. This conditions children to associate accomplishment with achievement.
What if I told you that you are successful not because of what you do but because you are. You are a person with unlimited potential and endless opportunities to advance your dreams. You should do great things in your life, but you don't have to do great things to be a great person. When you were first born you were "fearfully and wonderfully made" and this entitles you to the benefits of being alive in this world. Being a success is not what you do; it's who you are.
On this journey to success keep in mind that success is not really a journey or a destination. Success is more a state of being. Create within your mind that you are already successful because you are here. All the world gets to see is an extension of what that success means.
No comments:
Post a Comment