Real Meaning of Success is

Attaining Aim and Purpose

By Tom Anselm

I was recently watching a youtube video of Celine Dion singing ‘The Prayer.’ She tells this story of a shy, nervous, curly-headed teenager who had to fill in at a Grammy rehearsal for the blind Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, who was having travel woes. Turns out, the kid is Josh Groban, who then joins her in a duet of the famous song. And I wondered… what if Bocelli showed up on time that day? What if Groban had a sore throat?

The rest, for Groban, at least, is history. He was ‘discovered’ so to speak, and has gone on to be the American equivalent of Bocelli, or at least close. His career was born with that conjoining of talent and opportunity. But it has continued with perseverance. He was 17 in 1999, the year of that Grammy rehearsal, and has sold tens of millions of recordings since then. You can’t hear ‘You Raise Me Up’ without thinking of him.

But then, I think of others, most unnamed, who have talent, and perseverance, but for some reason known only to The Big Music Producer in the Sky, opportunity just doesn’t seem to cross-road with those two factors. Are they any less successful that Groban? And then, the question begs, what is success, really?

So here, a definition: Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Simple. Not the accumulation of great wealth. Not the adulation and recognition of the masses. The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Sure, a lot of times, the money is used as a marker. A guy like baseball player Bryce Harper, at age 26, is probably going to become the highest-paid ballplayer in history very soon. Successful? Well, sure, I guess. Talented? No doubt. Perseverant? Yeah, hitting a baseball may be one of the hardest things to do in sport… round bat, round ball traveling at 95-plus mph. And opportunity?

How about hitting the free agent market at a time of unparalleled money available to the sport’s team owners. But what about the kid who toiled ten years in the minors, gets up to ‘The Show’ for a couple of seasons, and is never heard from again. Talent? Sure, as you don’t get signed without it in this competitive game. Perseverance? Ten years in the minors tells you that. Opportunity? Can you imagine his joy when he got his call-up to the bigs?

So, then, Success? According to our definition… absolutely.

Here are some other notions. The mother who gives her life to her children, and then grandchildren, largely without notoriety. The clergyman who works tirelessly to bring faith to a sometimes-going-through-the-motions congregation. The coach who hangs in there through thick and thin, finally to find that trophy at the end of the day.

The teacher, beset by parents who can’t or don’t do their jobs and kids who resist their efforts daily, still planning and executing and caring. The parents who get up and out every day to provide a good life for their family. The ER nurse, the first responder, the street construction worker. Choir director, church pianist, the entertainer at the local pub. The list goes on.

All are Successful. All have met the criteria of ‘accomplishment of an aim or purpose.’

Let us celebrate them as well as the Groban’s and the Harper’s.

They deserve at least as much.

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