Dear Success

By Haanyah Cassam

I’m sorry. I have found that our relationship has always been fraught with misunderstanding, upset, and anger. I often found myself blaming you for perceived failures - when I felt that I had failed because I was measuring you up to the standard of others. I struggled to see that you were there in everything that I accomplished because for too long I focused on what had gone wrong. I should have kept an eye out for you. Every time I thought I failed I should have seen you, showing me that I was on my way to accomplishing my goals, with every ‘failure’ I was a step closer to achieving.

I viewed you to be the sun, never truly in my grasp, always taunting me, never able to truly see you. I glared at you, felt that you were mocking my every failure. I should’ve realised that you were really like the moon, lighting my way in the dark. After every failure, sure enough, you were there.

They say that success is fleeting. But I think that they’re wrong. Success can be found in even the smallest things that we do every day. Maya Angelou once said ‘‘Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.’’. And this definition is one I feel much more comfortable with. I often feel as though Success is measured in grades and popularity, as though you can be quantified. The truth is Success, much like everything else, is influenced by our own standards, so I’m reshaping mine. I will no longer view Success as unattainable, and the journey as impossible. Each failure will no longer be a dead-end, just another right turn on the way to achievement.