OCR Document

Successful Living 10 22 06

In our own way each of us desires to be successful in life. In the world around us a majority of individuals seek wealth, power or celebrity as a sign of successful living. This is in great contrast to what Jesus says success in life is: "Whoever wishes to be great among you will by your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all." The proof of this is Jesus himself: "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Each human being desires to be a personal success. There is a drive within each of us, we could call it an instinctive longing, to achieve greatness. It is not a question of being greater than others, but of being successful in the special way each of us is called to succeed. We are called to greatness that is in keeping with our own walk of life, our actual position and role among the population. I think that in almost every employment open to humans we can find a way to serve others. I have heard a number of business persons say, "The way to be successful is to please your customers." The greatness we are called to is in keeping with our own walk of life. This could be in education, arts, the professional world, in religion, in business interests, in one's own family, as single or married, as rich, middle class or poor, as publicly prominent or known just to a few. We are situated in different places. We are called to blossom where we are planted. We are more aware of what goes on deep within ourselves than what happens outside ourselves. We owe to ourselves a justifiable sense of self-satisfaction for being true to our genuine and best self.

We want to be assured that we can make a success of life without being necessarily dependent on others and without needing that our success be recognized beyond true self-recognition. We need this assurance or justifiable self-satisfaction especially when we are denied recognition for whom we truly are and the good we do. We need this inner self-realization even more when we are misunderstood and wrongly judged - known only to God and perhaps a few perceptive friends.

Yet it is not enough to be true to ourselves. We are not isolated from others. We are relational beings. We are interdependent. We might recall the words of Mother Teresa, "A life not lived

for others is not worth living." We make a success of our own lives when we concern ourselves with the true success of others, with the success that others are called to experience. Only in serving others do we serve ourselves. Only in giving to others do we give to ourselves what we most truly desire, a true sense of self-worth.

We cannot make others successful. It is their task and their privilege. Although we cannot live the life of others, we can provide them with opportunities to achieve greatness in their own ways. Too often persons are denied the opportunity to develop their full potential. Mentoring is teaching another one's own expertise. There is satisfaction in this both for the mentor and the mentee. This is the way all of society benefits when more experienced individuals are willing to share what they have learned with another. Sometimes unhealthy competition on either side of this relationship can be obstructive to this great human relationship.

We pray that we will gratefully welcome the opportunities given to us to be successful and great