20. Are We Successful?

In order to achieve something we focus totally on it. But once we get it we realize that the joy of owning something or achieving something is short lived.

This was not the success we envisioned when we started our task. There are several reasons for this. We were following what others wanted: parents, friends, and kin. Our journey along the path was not due to our deepest need. The goal we achieved was not our own. We were either imitating someone or trying to please someone.

We might have two or three cars, more homes than we can ever live in, a bank balance that is the envy of most peers. In the eyes of the society, we have achieved everything that they term as 'success.' Still we are deeply dissatisfied and restless.

This deep restlessness, unhappiness and dissatisfaction is called 'Depression of Success.' Almost every 'successful' person in the 'civilized' world suffers from this malady. People in the so-called 'under developed' nations of the world are still struggling towards material success, and their unhappiness results in depression of failure.

Depression of failure is much better than depression of success. In depression of failure there is hope that we can achieve the goal tomorrow. Hope acts as a buffer to truth. But depression of success leads us straight to truth and when we face truth directly, it hurts. We have nothing more to achieve and nowhere else to go, deep hopelessness descends on us.

From that point three paths are open to us. The first is the path of addiction: we choose a substance, food, or shopping to hold on to. The second path is denial- most people deny that they have a problem. The intelligent, they choose a different path altogether. They choose meditation, the path that takes them on an inward journey.

Everything we achieve in the outer world, for the society, is a lifestyle. What we call as success is what society dictates us to be. We are caught in the lifestyle and we miss life.

Understand! Lifestyle is designed by us. We start living our life for others not for

our own sake. Experience is based on lifestyle wisdom is based on life. When we have sharp awareness, total intelligence, and consciousness of our being, every incident reveals its truth to us. We become more aware of what is happening both inside and outside our being. We are aware of what is needed to fulfill both our life and our lifestyle.