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I think it is sad how many measure success by the amount of money someone has or makes..
Or by their title/job description.
To me, Success means being a decent person, a good citizen and being kind.
Also helping others, and contributing to others lives...
being a decent person and poor can still make for a pretty stressful , miserable life . not having choices in life because you don't have enough money to have choices is horrible . i grew up that way .
It depends on how you define poverty.
Having the necessities in life, such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care,
may be sufficient.
Sometimes when we have WAY more than we actually need, it actually causes stress.
Simple living is freedom.
then you have enough money to live a stress free life ? or have enough money for choices ? then money is important and obviously you have enough then .. money does not buy happiness but it sure as heck buys choices and the more choices you have and not have situations or events forced on you the better .
you can't help others much until you are in a position to help yourself financially .
Sure you don't need much if you let tax payers support you .
ever see what it cost to get medical insurance un-subsidized ?
while saying's sound good they usually have little to do with reality .
Last edited by mathjak107; 12-24-2015 at 11:25 AM..
If I had to choose, I would choose to be a decent person and struggle financially rather than be a dishonest jackass and be on easy street. Fortunately I don't have to make that choice.
The original post doesn't say so directly, but there is an underlying implication that the two things are mutually exclusive. There are plenty of people, whether poor, middle class, or rich, who are mean-spirited and selfish, just like there are many kind and decent people, whether poor, middle class, or rich.
Other things being equal I admire people who have been successful financially because in most cases it demonstrates their brains and their hard work. Financial success is only one kind of success, of course, and here I agree with the OP that there are also other important measures of success which human beings can aspire to.
I think it is sad how many measure success by the amount of money someone has or makes..
Or by their title/job description.
To me, Success means being a decent person, a good citizen and being kind.
Also helping others, and contributing to others lives...
What you call a success is an expectation that I have for everybody. I expect everybody to be a good person, decent, and kind. I expect people to help others and contribute to others. All the people that I associate with firmly fit in all of these categories and I do not associate with those that don't.
However, they are not all successful. Some don't earn enough to house, feed, clothe, and take care of their families on their own. I help several families in this category. They are all good people, decent, and kind but for various reasons they just can't quite support themselves on their own.
I think it is sad how many measure success by the amount of money someone has or makes..
Or by their title/job description.
To me, Success means being a decent person, a good citizen and being kind.
Also helping others, and contributing to others lives...
Why does the thinking have to be so binary?
If you have money, it gives you more options to help other people and prevents you from being a burden on others. It's much harder to help others if you have to put a lot of time and energy into getting basic needs met for yourself.
If this were true, we wouldn't have so many people aspiring to be successful or rich. Success is measured by these tangible things, but you are truly successful if you have a great family and network.
the problem is the statement above is trying to speak for all folks and make that the criteria for judging success ,and it can't .
what you will find is everyone has a different yard stick . generally i bet those that try to rule financial success out of the equation never had it so it gets dropped from the parameter list and the list gets modified .
i would say the measure of success in life is having grandchildren but i would be quite wrong speaking for everyone else .
many folks who have no kids , or no grand children will try to express the fact those things are not needed either . but to those who do have those things they are an important part of the list .
as stated earlier , the proper behavior of a human being is to do the things the op mentioned . that does not give you extra points for doing it , it takes points away if you don't .
being successful to me is meeting your goals and expectations on all fronts including financial .
i would not consider myself successful just because i acted humanly if the other pieces of my puzzle that are part of my yardstick were not met .
Last edited by mathjak107; 12-25-2015 at 05:55 AM..
If I had to choose, I would choose to be a decent person and struggle financially rather than be a dishonest jackass and be on easy street. Fortunately I don't have to make that choice.
The original post doesn't say so directly, but there is an underlying implication that the two things are mutually exclusive. There are plenty of people, whether poor, middle class, or rich, who are mean-spirited and selfish, just like there are many kind and decent people, whether poor, middle class, or rich.
Other things being equal I admire people who have been successful financially because in most cases it demonstrates their brains and their hard work. Financial success is only one kind of success, of course, and here I agree with the OP that there are also other important measures of success which human beings can aspire to.
Another excellent post, ER!
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