Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sweet Success

Success is magical. At most times it is taken for granted. You work hard enough success is there before your very eyes. It is there for you to grab. It is there for you to reach out. You put extra effort there will be bonuses. Yet not many people understand the mechanism. Let alone its processes and systems. Maybe procedures and strategies for that matter.

I have the opportunity to digest on the struggle of Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar. I know her sometime back. I follow her struggle. Yes she is a struggling citizen vying to change her beloved country. Vying to open her country to the outside world. To change for the better. To bring freedom of spirit and speech. Freedom to take whatever endeavour to empower the people to drive for success in the true spirit of the word. To free her country from dictatorship. To transfer the power of selected few to the masses of the people. Indeed it was a long struggle for her. Success seems so near. Nevertheless her struggle is not over yet.

Looking back, my early years was a struggle of some nature. I thought I was unlucky enough to undergone such struggle. How difficult it was to make ends meet. My mother was a towering struggle to me. But compared to Suu Kyi it was nothing. It does not mean that my mother’s struggle was futile. It has value. It has substance. Every struggle is a struggle by itself. However small it may be. It cannot be discarded just lake that. What we should understand is that every human has his/her own struggle to contend with. Success is sweet but struggle is a vital element of success. The degree we undergo such struggle is different.

Success is not always the end. At times it is the beginning. Redally? Is struggle never ending in nature? Is it nurtured? Cultured? Cultivated? No, never be confused. As long as you live struggle is always there. To some people it is a small affair. To others it could be a surmountable affair. It is you and you alone to judge and to measure its nature. Small or huge is perception. It could be an illusion. Demeanour. Struggle is expected by some people. Success is not for grab. It has to be earned. You work for it. Blood and sweat. A devotion. A dedication. A complete commitment. There is no such thing struggle cum pleasure. Even success is not accompanied with pleasure. Success means more struggle. Bigger struggle. Just like a ladder. The next one needs greater effort. To be on top of the ladder your entire life must be a spent one.

What an irony. A paradox maybe. Most people yearn to succeed. They are captivated by people who have enjoyed their success. They lead a happy life effortlessly. That is what is apparent. What is physically seen by the naked eyes. Maybe by the sheer size of the seen success. It looks easy to measure or to count it. It seems happiness is there. Accompanied by wealth. Affluent living. Denoted by sizeable material belongings. It could be a big mansion with big compound. Big cars. High flying life styles. Branded attires. And other pleasures in life that are forbidden for ordinary people.

Just ponder for a moment. Take stock. Look around. Arouse your feeling. Pick up your senses. Is success easy for you to pick up? If so, why only a fraction of the people who savour success? What happened along the way? What transpired to taste the sweet of success? Remember Nelson Mandela from South Africa. He became a Prime Minister. Yes a pinnacle of success. What more can you ask. The highest in most lands. Just examine closely. Scrutinise intently. He left behind a lot of miseries. He lost a lot of pleasures. Imagine 20 years in prison! He lost his wife instead. In the end he became a loner. Success is not always accompanied by happiness. There are a lot to learn. To acquire.

Look at Aung San Suu Kyi. She struggle so much. She suffered physically. She endured psychologically. She was cut off from society. She drifted alone. Even her children are not around to witness and endured her hardship. Her husband is there. But she is the one who was subjected to those sufferings. She was to suffer. Not her husband. Not her children. She is about my age. Yet she become an astute personality. One to be emoluted. She is a struggle in nature. Success is synonymous with struggle. With sufferings. With pain. With displeasure.

Life is full or uncertainties. You may vision something in the future. Something picturesque. Your vision is in fact devoid of sufferings or struggles. You think it will be plain sailing. A simplistic thinking. Let us learn from others. Nothing is easy. Nothing is simple. Nothing is presented to you on a silver platter. Well, success is well kept secret. Work for it. Success will be yours. Of course you need risillience and perseverance. Stay focused. Never be deviated by unworthy elements. Irrelevant to the path of success. Good luck.