Daily writing prompt

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

View all responses

Myself.

Which, I know, sounds… arrogant? Selfish? Hear me out.

I couldn’t say what I think defines “success.” Sometimes I think success is being happy, or satisfied; no one is happy or satisfied all the time, though, and is that really all it is to succeed? To feel well yourself?

I used to think it meant hitting a certain salary point, but at this point I realize that no salary can protect you from the world. Of course money can protect you to some extent, in some systems, but it’s no end-all-be-all the way some of us seem to act like it is. In the same token, I don’t see success as giving everything away, as wanting nothing whether it’s because you can afford it all and have no need for want or simply have nothing that you want.

Success could be overcoming hurdles, but then how can any of us truly succeed? There will always be more hurdles.

So, in the end, I see myself as successful just because I’ve made it this far. I’ve survived all of my worst days, so the saying goes. I am inching my way closer to being a person I want to be, a person I can observe almost as an outsider and say, “Wow, I bet she’s proud to be who she is.” I never thought I could be successful. But now I am.