Success at the Expense of ?

I was speaking to someone about purpose and that triggered other things. Most people tend to relate purpose to success and success to being rich and being rich to being wealthy and I suppose once they are wealthy purpose has been achieved. That mentality is certainly passed down from one generation to the next.

This post is more the conversations that ensued than it is the subject matter itself. When people speak of success; they are right in referring to it in terms of financial success. Phrases such as ‘I just want to be successful’, ‘God bless my hustle’, etcetera are way too common, supporting the argument for the perception of viewing success only in monetary terms. My question now is "Success at the expense of what ?‎"

If you read/listen the biographies or auto biographies of the layman’s idea of a successful man you would realize that so much goes into that financial success. Hard work (yes), determination (double yes), discipline (yes) and we could go on. What we fail to realize is that they sacrificed things and people in order to attain 'success'. Take Warren Buffet for instance, he was hard working yet he neglected his wife and children. To fail as a husband is bad enough, but to fail as a father is worse because those children didn’t ask to be born. However, in the divine scheme of things they were meant to be here and as a father you owe them, at the very least, to be 'present' and to be more involved in their lives than a stranger would. I could go on and on about the friendships he salvaged but I'm sure my point has been passed across.  It is in my opinion that we must endeavour to get a point in life where we want more than -than just- financial success because you are only truly successful when you touch lives of people not just far away from you but also your loved ones.

In pursuit of financial success, there are prices to be paid - hard work, commitment, dedication -but beware of the hidden costs and trade-offs. In the search of your 'treasures' remember to keep close to heart those, albeit, in the background who have also made this journey with you.‎ Afterall, what is a treasure if it leaves a bad taste in our mouth once discovered ?

Isolation!

A long time ago I had no cares or worries in the world. I was born to a middle class family in a little town called Garland, it was known to be a town full of men and women with aspirations and dreams to become better and bigger people in society; men and women who would one day change their class and hopefully become the upper class.

As a baby I probably cried when I was hungry or wet my nappy, as a child I was better able to express myself but I wanted to become an adult so quickly. I guess I sort of sensed they had freedom to do things I was not allowed to do. They were able to watch just about any show on TV while I was restricted, I was not allowed to listen to certain music, I was not allowed a lot of things adults were allowed to do and so I wanted to be an adult. Trust me it couldn't come any sooner. I was 16 and then counting down till I left for college, which I did! Then I became an adult.

I met someone who I thought at the time was the "love of my life", you see I forgot to tell you I was raised up in a Christian home and so I had been told things that were right and wrong. I served in 4 or 5 different ministries. Yet I sinned when I supposedly met a man I thought was the love of my life! I experienced a new life, a different life, a happy life well until I became pregnant!

I knew it was wrong but I also knew although this might have been wrong according to my beliefs and values, aborting a child God had plans for would have been worse. At my home church I was like a plague, my spiritual father and mentor was not only upset with me, I was separated and detained incommunicado. My mom wouldn't speak to me either, my dad tried but it was not the same man I knew.  At church, people pointed at me and laughed, I was isolated, I was broken, I became man's rejection. I tried to save face, I was not proud about what happened however, I did not want to be left out. My family isolated me and so I sought acceptance at church only to realise it was some sort worse. God has probably left me alone; I thought on several occasions! 

In the months leading up to the birth of my child, the Holy Spirit worked in me, God chose to have mercy on me, He touched me, He saved me and in the midst of the storm I experienced calm because of the forgiveness I had received. It was a journey filled with emotions I may not be able to express in words!

A few months later I was blessed with an angel I call God's gift I know some people might not agree. In the midst of it all, through shame, reproach, isolation and rejection, God chose to bless me with a tiny human. I was condemned but not convicted, I was different to many other girls but not less. I was loosed from the shame of my past because of this angel! I didn't fill isolated because I was filled with joy received from the Holy Spirit through grace and mercy.