Day 2: What does success mean to you?

Not feeling particularly great today. Despite various attempts to self-assure myself, the feeling of being left behind in life still catches up with me every now and then. Perhaps this is a perfect timing to reflect on today's theme - what does success mean to me?

I have always had a vague idea of what I want to achieve in my life, but very clear on what I DO NOT NEED TO. Traditional values never quite appeal to me - climbing the ladder in the business world, moving into a luxury house, buying a chic car, trying out the best restaurants in the town, travelling to tourist hotspots whenever there is holiday, marrying a beautiful woman out of vanity, having kids to fulfil others' expectation...they are not for me. These things are nice to have, but not what I would define my life with.

Source: Ethereal Moon's namesake CD cover

On the other hand, I can articulate things that I find truly meaningful: playing sports with someone I enjoy company with; discussing philosophy or other grand scheme of things in life with like-minded people; travelling off the beaten track around the world and taking serene pictures; or just having a deep conversation about an interesting movie, music or story over a cosy café - you get the sense there. 

Yet most importantly, I want to leave behind some intellectual legacy for the world. Be it making new finding in HSP research, writing an interesting fiction, solving a challenging puzzle, making crazy art pieces, or raising important questions in life for the world to ponder, these are the things which I treasure the most. To me they are much more fun to achieve than other traditional goals in our mainstream culture. Not trying to be arrogant; people are just born differently with different goals in mind and it is naïve to assume everybody shares the same ones.

So in short, when I can accomplish some, if not all, of these things I my life I will feel truly contended, and that is how I call my success. As for money, fame and other worldly goals, I won't say I don't care about them at all. But they are not the definitions of my success; they are side dishes. The intellectual journey, and the connections with people I make along this path, is the main course to me.

Feeling better after I have spurted out my words - thanks for this exercise.