“There’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success” -J.Cole1
The journey itself is clear; be successful. Yet, no one really tells you how hard it can be. Think of it like this; a marathon with routes that only you control, some lead you to a dead end and some lead you to what you really want, success. But it’s the person running that really benefits from this race; everyone else is just bystanders cheering you on, handing you that cup of water your dehydrated body needs every once in a while. Let’s face it, when you’re running for so long, the path gets familiar and your concentration dwindles. A thought of turning around and running an alternate direction, driving you further away from your objective, doesn’t look to bad right about now. What about the short cut? Through the sketchy walk way, you may not know if it will benefit you but you will get to your destination, possibly. Before you know it, exhausted and all, you chose to keep running that long and ever so familiar path you originally began on. Even though you dreaded this route, with a smile on your face and the crowd cheering your name, you made it, you crossed the finish line. The “right way”, you became successful.
However, some runners never begin the marathon; they just stand there contemplating if the run is even worth it. If all that hard work is even justified by the outcome; but they will never know unless they take progressive steps forward. So they’re just left standing there, drinking the cups filled with the same water that belongs to the other contestants actually running. Procrastinating on what to do, they’re actually convinced that standing there is okay; building comfort around the idea itself, until that person becomes content. They may have not begun the race, but they finished speculating on what to do; in other words, pursuing their own happiness and accepting their fate, creating their own success with what they are given.
So what exactly defines “being successful”? Reaching your aspiration, or being at peace fulfilled with joy? If you look up the definition of “successful”, you will read that it’s to accomplish an aim or a purpose; if your purpose is to just be happy being insignificantly content, you would initially find yourself being successful. If your aim is to achieve a desired vision or planned goal, you again would find yourself being efficiently successful. Granted, comparing the success of working hard and hardly working are two completely different contests; it’s as if you want to compare sprints and long-distance running, they may fall in the same category of track and field, but both are diverse variations of how to run.
Therefore, the terminology of the word “success” is vague. There is no definitive answer on what being successful really means. The sense of triumph alone lingers in a shade of gray. For example, you can capture fame and be on top of the world, yet still feel as if you’re the only one living on it; or you can live in a cardboard box with a crayon drawn window, and yet feel as if you own a mansion. Respectively, your perspective on success determines on how blissful you remain.
Regardless on the route you decide to take on your journey of success. Nothing is set in stone, there is always a way to do better and be better. Even if you’re broke, your spirit is not, be a better person and spread positivity to your peers, it is as contagious as a yawn; thus, create your own definition on being successful, and define the meaning of success as you see it. Negativity is a plague that eats away at your character; do not let criticism stand in the way of your achievements and self-progression. The struggle is beautiful if you’re happy; and happiness comes in all forms, whether you’re engulfed with wealth or drowning in debt, love yours.
- J.Cole-Love Yours (2014 Forest Hills Drive)
foerealtimes 