How should we handle success?

There ARE times of SUCCESS. You lead with effort that works. Pay off that credit card. Help lead an organization in a strong direction. For me… you might… You might preach a great sermon.  No matter how it feels, success, like anything good, needs to be handled with great care.  It is easy to become “full of ourselves.”  It is easy to forget the “sweet and pain.”  It is easy to miss humility.

I have had successes but have not always handled success with care. I have not always been a good steward of those “success moments.” Pride… you know. Why for me? Because I have missed that success is not the end. I naturally think success is the end because it is, in some way, a remedy to fear of failure and insecurity.  Really!

So, what is it like to handle success with care.  It can’t be my end.  Success will always leave me wanting for more.  It does not satisfy my heart.  It does not satisfy my cravings. And that sucks. Because it would be much easier.    I am starting to learn that success is in the CHARACTER AND the OTHERS of life. Success is not WINNING.  It is not about what you have accomplished BUT WHO YOU ARE!  There are plenty of people that have a lot and find it is not the answer.  Jim Carrey said it best ““I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”   

Success is not the answer when it comes to the stuff we accumulate or the accolades we receive.  The answer, I am starting to understand, is WHO AM I BECOMING?  Do I love others well? Do I serve others well?  Do I want my life to be shaped by money and stuff? OR can my stuff and my influence… not so much be about being full of myself but rather BE FULL of OTHER-SELVES?  Can the gifts that I have received – be a gift for others?  I think, in part, that is about BECOMING a better version of myself!  I believe that is success… in the most beautiful form.

That is what I have…

Here are a couple others: