Defining Success

The other day, one of my lovely nieces was over (I have many lovely nieces), and we started discussing the innovative ways she’s been trying to encourage and highlight women doing beautiful things in this world.

Suddenly, the thought came to me, “I wonder how those women define ‘success’?”

Honestly, I think it’s an important question — for better or for worse, our definition of success is likely a big motivator in the choices we make and the way we live our lives.

Think about it for a second. How do you define “success”?

Taking the time to think about it, just might change the way you live your life.

I’ve rarely encountered anybody who doesn’t want their “work” to be successful, but how many of us have taken the time to define what success would look like?

It occurred to me that the biggest mistake a woman could make would be to define success the same way the culture at large defines it.

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with those definitions of success, but I think they can fall way short of what true success actually is.

So many of us want to define success by a dollar amount in the bank, numbers of followers, or books sold or whatever else you might be able to measure — but at the end of the day, those “measurable” realities will always fall short.

There will always be more money to be had, or followers to gain, or goals to be met, and these measurable goals will never fully satisfy the human heart.

If we call ourselves “Christian” then we should look different than the rest of the world, and our idea of success should also look different.

There is a powerful message associated with Sr. Faustina and the Divine Mercy messages she received from God. I think it is a great clue as to how Christians, men and women, should look to define success.

Simply put, it states that in the end we will be judged on how we loved — that’s it.

What if we realigned our ideas of “success” with that simple principle?

Think about it, how successful would a person actually be if they lost Heaven in the process of achieving their goals in life?

How happy would a person actually be in this life if they didn’t take the time to invest love into the principle relationships of their lives?

In my opinion, not very successful at all.

If those 4 letters L-O-V-E are not in your definition of success, perhaps it’s time for a revamping of your definition.

I think that this is especially true for women. I think it’s time to reject the worlds definition of success and be who we were meant to be.

If we, as women, don’t understand what it means to be a woman, then I fear we will begin to adopt the ideas that are popular around us.

The same is true for men. There are so many false ideas of what it means to be a man, and these false ideas are wreaking havoc.

Let’s go back to the beginning. God created us — Male and Female — He made us to complement each other and to work together for a common cause.

But he also made us very, very different.

The second we begin to blur those lines is the second we fail to recognize the genius of who we were created to be.

As women, we need to embrace that beauty and complexity that sets us apart from men, and we need to stop apologizing for those differences.

John Paul II called this unique differencethe Feminine Genius.

Women bring a genius to society that is very different from a man. Not only is that an okay thing to acknowledge — I think it’s an essential reality to get comfortable with if we want true progress in society.

A woman shouldn’t try to live her life like a second rate man, but rather like a first rate woman.

Embracing our feminine genius is essential to being truly successful in this world and in the next.

Part of the Feminine Genius is the ability to point everybody — men and women — back to their noblest call: the call to love one another.

At the end of the day, we all should have the same definition of success, and women intuitively know that definition in the depths of their soul.

This culture needs strong women to remind the world of our ultimate call to love one another.

We need women, now more than ever, who are brave enough to define success differently than the culture at large.

We need women who are confident enough to not give a flying flip if the people around them disagree with that definition.

We need to be the amazing women that God has called us to be, and we need to stop comparing our successes to the successes of the people around us.

The truth is, God has placed a special call on your heart, and this call is like no other call in the world.

Yes, it may look similar to the woman or man next to you, but it is entirely unique to you.

If we began to live our lives with this sort of bravery and abandonment, I believe the result would be a greater contentment and peace with our own lives and true progress in society.

But here’s the catch: it would require that we take the time to talk to God every day and to listen to Him.

It would require that we keep our eyes on Christ and allow Him to lead us.

Instead of looking to our left and right as we run this race of life, it would mean that we keep our sights on Heaven.

Imagine the freedom of that kind of life!

It is attainable, but it takes a lot of work, and prayer and faith.

Let’s not forget now is a time of mercy in the Church.

Let’s take advantage of it and allow God’s grace to transform us into men and women who love heroically — TILL.IT.HURTS!

If you can look back on your life and say that you loved to the best of your abilities, then I dare say you could consider your life a great success!

So make this life count, people! Don’t waste it on pointless selfish pursuits that will never, ever satisfy.

Let us spend our lives in pursuit of heroic love: pouring ourselves out for others, sharing the good news and remaining faithful to God’s unique call to us.

Imagine God looking getting you on that day you breathe your last, imagine Him embracing you with a Love like no other, and imagine Him saying to you,

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Now enter into the joy of my kingdom.”

Matt 25:23

What better vision of success could you possibly have?

Sharing over at Kelly’s