A satisfied life is better than a successful life. Our success is measured by others, but our satisfaction is measured by our own soul, mind and heart.
A satisfied life is better than a successful life. Our success is measured by others, but our satisfaction is measured by our own soul, mind and heart.
When was the last time that you did something that was completely satisfying for yourself?
It does not matter what that was. It could be massive or miniscule. It can be anything in the entire range of human experiences. It can be multiple forms of pleasure, achievement, experience, thought, artistic expression… whatever the variable, so long as you felt a deep sense of satisfaction in the experience, then it has served its purpose in your world.
Satisfaction is such a large, encompassing category. It can come from your first sip of the best cup of coffee (however you choose to compose it). Or from watching the sun magically appear or disappear on the horizon.
Society creates a need for success. One person living alone off the land will only measure their success by how well they are able to survive, but the majority of their time, will be doing things that bring them satisfaction. Whereas the majority of us are living in the societal structure in which success is paramount, and all of our most important efforts are spent working to achieve and maintain it.
One may argue that achieving success brings satisfaction and that is most certainly true in many cases. But more important is the fact that it is that the satisfaction is determined internally and that it is the individual’s metric of satisfaction that allows the success to deliver such a feeling.
I have met many successful people who will never be satisfied. Their drive and determination cause them to spend the majority of their lives pushing to ever greater levels of success. I see a lot of that mindset in myself. My daily flirtation with philosophy and my desire to write about it and share with others is a direct offshoot of this aspect of my being. The drive for success propels me forward in life and that does bring satisfaction. The philosophy stimulates me daily to find topics of consideration to remind me to stop and smell the roses (metaphorically and actually) along the way.
Each and every day should bring numerous moments of satisfaction. If they do not, perhaps you might evaluate what is satisfying to you and put time towards achieving that through the methods and efforts that you determine will achieve such.
In our short journey in physical form on this magical planet, it is almost criminal not to find the smaller details that fill our hearts with wonder and joy. To miss out on them is perhaps to miss out on the entire experience… almost akin to going to a movie theater and sitting in your seat with your eyes closed through the entire film.
Happy Wednesday!
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