Over the years I've heard a lot of talks on success, fulfillment, and what I would call “the testing ground.” One of the statements I heard that stuck with me went something like this: “ Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.” Success and Fulfillment Success can occur in any area of our lives if we persevere and grow. But, as the saying goes, “We may get what we want, but not want what we get.” Being successful in some area of our life and feeling like we never discovered and fulfilled a deeper purpose can leave us with feelings of emptiness and possibly despair. We've seen this occur in contemporary movie stars, musicians, as well as ancient legendary conquerers who died feeling empty. Fulfillment normally involves and engages every area of our life vs. “cherry-picking” what areas we want to grow in and what areas we don't want to grow in. The Testing Ground
A few people may have found fortune or whatever some may call it. But most people I've known and heard of have worked relentlessly to become successful. It seems like our “moral universe" is set up to only allow those with a certain “content of character" on other side of the testing ground to come into success. Three Distinct Categories of People When it comes to being successful in life, the testing ground reveals three distinct categories of people. These categories I'm going to label as the obnoxious, the average, and the authentic. Let's start in the middle with the average person. The average person is just what that implies. They make up the vast majority of people we meet who seek to fit in and many times see life through a "follower lens." The obnoxious person seeks to be different than the crowd, but does this in an irritating and unhealthy way. They use other lenses to see life through like a "victim
lens," for example. The authentic person, however, seeks to be their unique selves and lead others into fulfillment as well. The Yin and Yang of the Matter
One frequently overlooked lesson from the Yin and Yang concept is that, when discussing opposites, there's a little of Yin in every Yang and vice versa. This same concept applies to these three categories of people. It's doubtful that I could find one person who is perfectly average in every area of their life, for example. But for the most part, we are more of one category than the others. Whether we are willing to admit this and be honest with ourselves and others is a whole other issue. My Personal Testing Ground One of my personal testing grounds has been working on my two businesses. These experiences have helped develop content of character and brought with them many valuable lessons as well as helping to create the life I dream to live. If you are interested in doing the same, check out these links: https://theinspiredandinformedlife.com/start/home
http://SteveKMartin.arbonne.com/
Bringing It Together It's possible to be successful in some areas of our lives and feel fulfilled by accomplishing our overall purpose, vision, mission, or calling. Both success and fulfillment require passing through the testing ground. The testing ground sifts out three categories of people: the obnoxious, the average, and the authentic. Your Application So are you feeling success as well as fulfillment and how are you responding to the testing ground?