Success: yours to define

A fact not well understood by many is that success cannot be quantified. Success is relative and means different things to different people. To value success solely by one’s bank balance, it is not a success in the true sense. You are a winner and a champion when you succeed in reaching your mother’s womb, leaving behind billions of competitors who raced against you. You are a success story when you are the first spark of life that manages to emerge and become one with the growing fetus in your mother’s womb. For a pregnant mother, success comes at the end of the gestation period of her growing infant. In her eyes, success is experienced when she safely delivers the child after enduring many months of discomfort and a life-and-death struggle in the labour room. Success means different things to different people. To a business conglomerate, success is witnessing the business he started from scratch grows into a multimillion-dollar entity that reaches the pinnacle of achievement. For an author, success is seeing the publication of his creative ideas, which brings joy to his heart. For someone struggling with addiction—whether narcotics, alcohol, or other intoxicants— breaking free from those shackles means a rebirth into this world. For such an individual, parting ways with addiction is indeed a success that others may find hard to understand. For a dedicated teacher, success lies in bringing students out of ignorance into a world full of knowledge, wisdom, ethics, and enlightenment. For a diligent student, success is seen when he passes examinations with flying colours. One person’s success is never seen as success in the eyes of another, because success is relative. In the life of a farmer, success is felt when the season for harvesting crops arrives. The fact that his crops survived bad weather and pests in the field is indeed a moment to rejoice. To him, success comes as a reward for all the hard work and toil in the field. For a freedom fighter, success is felt when his country is freed from foreign occupation, subjugation, and interference. Successfully resisting those who come to steal land and possessions is a victory and success for the army defending the motherland. Since success cannot be quantified and is something felt deeply in the heart, only the individual has the right to claim that he has succeeded. Forget about the world and how others view him. Success doesn’t fall from the sky. It is earned through patience, perseverance, persistence, and prayer. For a Muslim, all worldly successes are temporary. True and everlasting success is gained in the hereafter. The ultimate success for a practicing Muslim is being granted entry into the garden of heaven (Jannah).