Being Successful and Peaceful
--by Les Kaye (Sep 18, 2000)
The incentive to be successful is one of the most powerful gifts of
humanity, energizing our creativity and inspiring us to engage our
activity for the benefit of others. Yet there is a paradox within
the motivation to succeed, for if we are not careful, we can be
seduced by the almost universal misunderstanding that personal success
automatically provides happiness and peace of mind. By paying careful
attention to our own experience, we have a chance to realize that just
the opposite is true, that the desire for personal success can never
be completely fulfilled. We discover that the achievement of the
moment may be satisfying for a time, but the elation soon wears off
and we become anxious again to attain more.
Recognizing the enigma does not mean that we are forced to make a
trade off, that we must choose between peace of mind and success. But
it does require understanding that the value of life cannot be
measured by the size of our collection of personal successes. Peace
of mind and the incentive to be successful coexist when we include
others in our vision of success, when its meaning is unselfish, when
success is more to us than personal attainment. It is the attitude
of selflessness, the realization that giving, rather than collecting,
is the purpose of life activities.
-- Les Kaye, From Kannon Do Chronicles