Success is the ability to be happy and make others happy, to love and be loved, to be at peace with oneself and others, says DADA J P VASWANI
Politicians are afraid of losing elections. Students are afraid of failing in examinations. Mothers are afraid about their children’s safety… The list is endless. We live in fear; we work in fear; we walk in fear; we talk in fear. We move through life from one fear to another, crushed beneath the weight of a woeful existence!
When your mind is filled with negative emotions, you become insecure and fearful. You are overcome by negative thought patterns: ‘I may fail’, ‘I may lose my money’, or ‘people may laugh at me’, and so on. This kind of thinking weighs you down. You let opportunities and chances slip by. You are afraid to make bold moves. You begin to stagnate...
Life is not a matter of simple victory. We fail, we fail and we fail, until finally, we succeed.
Stepping Stones
It is only when a person bears failures with faith and courage that he gives the best proof of character. Failure has a place in life. It is very necessary. But even as success is not permanent, failure is not permanent. Do not forget that failures are not final. You fail only when you accept failure as final. Always think of failures as stepping stones to success, not stopping stones.
Nothing Can Stop You
Nothing stops a man who desires to achieve success. The obstacles on his way only strengthen his powers of resolve. Every failure is a course to build his moral muscles.
Although everyone wants to be successful in life, there are few who know the elements of success, the factors that go to build up success.
Today, success is being confused with making money, with amassing millions and billions. Some people equate it with power and position. Many of us tend to equate success with visible material acquisitions. Outer things and external achievements are not yardsticks for success. Power, prestige, position, social influence and higher degrees awarded by universities — all these are outer things. They only touch the fringe of life, they do not enter the depths within. A man may have all these and yet may be intellectually barren; he may be emotionally barren and spiritually sterile. Would you call such a man successful? What then is success all about? What is true success? I would define success as the ability to be happy and make others happy; the ability to love and be loved; the ability to remain in peaceful harmony with oneself; with those around you and with God’s cosmic laws.
Dunlop’s Story
Let us delve into the story of such a man, who achieved success in life. You may have heard of Dunlop tyres. They were manufactured by George C Dunlop. As a young man, Dunlop was far from wealthy. But he genuinely cared for an old woman, who was an invalid. She was confined to a wheelchair, and Dunlop would often propel the chair for her. He found she suffered severe jolts and discomfort, when the steel rims of the wheelchair moved on rough terrain. He wanted to do something that would reduce her discomfort.
In those days, a new material was much talked about. People were beginning to marvel over its flexibility and softness. It was nothing but rubber. Dunlop took strands of rubber and wound them around the steel rims of the wheelchair and found that this helped to smoothen considerably the movements of the wheel, giving a great deal of comfort to his invalid friend. Thus began the story of Dunlop tyres — first designed to bring comfort to an invalid’s life. They made George Dunlop a wealthy man many times over.
There is no happiness in wealth, but there is considerable wealth in the experience of happiness. ■
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