Are you successful?

To provide an absolute definition of success, I would argue that success is the ability to appear in public – at any given point and time in one’s life – without shame. The basic premise is that success is not static, but dynamic. It is a rubric of self worth in the interim between the first conceptions of self and dying. Following this reasoning, a person’s life should run parallel and at the same pace as their ideal of success. More directly, I am 21 years old and a junior in college. In this light I consider myself successful. If I were 30 years old and a freshman in college, my self perception might be different. Consequently, self esteem (I believe) is an excellent meter of success. High self esteem indicates that an individual perceives themselves as successful. Given that success is dynamic and not a point to be reached, juxtaposing money and self esteem as meters of success proves money to be an inadequate measure. Money is impersonal and fluctuates in its weight as an indicator at different points in life. A college student with good grades and no substantial income will consider himself a success. Self esteem, on the other hand, is consistent in its influence on happiness and success because it reflects how a person perceives him or herself. In essence, success can be defined as the pursuit of happiness.