I recently watched two movies: The Wolf of Wall Street and Iron Lady. Both movies depicted individuals that achieved high levels of success in their given fields seeking to leave a lasting legacy, but both paid a high price in their personal lives for their ambition.
It made me pause because I am a work-a-holic. I am constantly working. I became reflective to remember that I don’t think it matters to be the best. Working gives us pride and can add value to others, but at the end of your life it doesn’t “matter” when quantifying the measure of one’s personal measure of success. Who cares how great people think you are? It’s just fluff.
What matters is quality time with family and friends and the person you are to them. It sounds corny, but in a practical sense, it’s the truth. The day-to-day interactions with people really matters because it is a contribution to the “we” rather than just “me”. How you treat your loved ones and peers creates a domino effect that lasts forever, literally, because it influences how they will treat people in their lives, and on a grand scale, all the little things you do, or don’t do, affects the next generation and so on.
I don’t know how many of you would agree with me, but, I think if you look at some of the greatest people of our history, people we look up to as hero’s, their personal lives were an absolute mess. They were so busy trying to change the world and couldn’t even manage their own home, and even if they achieved their given goals, well – look at our world. Still upside down. And I’m not saying we don’t need the Martin Luther King Jr. or Ghandi, because obviously all they did is admirable and having a heart to help the masses is inspiring. But I’m just saying that I think true success is to have an honest balance where our REAL legacy is how the people closest to us are affected.
There are happy, good and blessed people in the midst of the world’s confusion. It’s directly related to them having people in their lives that loved them and nurtured them – people of the past generations who set the tone. And even though nobody goes out of their way to say anything about the simple people we will never know of, it is the same people who do things that matter and leave a lasting legacy, more-so than the famous people of our world. You don’t have to be a super-hero or be considered ‘special’ with your gifts and talents. You just have to love and care for the people in your life and let them love you. When all is said and done, I think you’ll have done a lot to live an important existence.
Words by Sid Aakowa.
