My friend asked me what I would change about my life if I was wealthy, and that’s when it hit me: Nothing really. the only difference would be that I would not have to be concerned about paying the monthly bills anymore, and maybe that I would purchase a nice house in the hills, but the actual contents of my life and the way I have furnished it so far would not unergo any significant transformation.
This discovery intrigued me. In fact it got me mulling over it long after the conversation with my friend was over! Just think about it for a moment: there are many wealthy people who would give away half or all of their assets if only they could obtain contentment. And there are many people balancing on the edge of poverty, but with peace in their heart, faces that smile a lot, and a set of activities that they would not want to change for the world. Now, which category of these people is really successful?
My conclusion is, that success has just as many faces as any other possible theme, depending on the society in which it is measured, and the values of the person who measures it. Wrongfully, many people confuse success with wealth: they assume that a person’s trimph can be concluded from the expensiveness of his or her watch, car, or house. They envy those in their circle of acquaintances who can financially afford more than they can. They keep comparing themselves with the Joneses and allow their happiness to depend on the level to which they can equal these people’s lifestyles. And they forget to just do the simplest thing in the world: turn inside and analyze what it is that they really like.
I think success should be more synonymous with happiness than with affluence. For it’s only when you find satisfaction with what you’re doing and don’t dread facing every new day when your task has to be embarked upon, that you are really successful. When you can move in an environment that pleases you, and when you feel at ease with the ones you deal with on a daily basis; when you feel loved, cared for, understood, and valued in what you do, and you don’t have to switch personalities from one location to another: that’s when you’ve really attained in one person’s life; when you are confronted with gratitude, not only from others toward you, but from your outer-self to your inner-self: that’s when you are a really winner.
Success, therefore, cannot be measured by what radiates from a person’s purse or material cover, but from what exudes from his or her personality. You can feel it in one’s touch, you can hear it in one’s voice and you can see it in one’s eyes. Successful people are self-assured, know what they want, and go for it. And what they want, they simply determine with feeling, and not with what others dictate them.
So, are you successful?
朋友问我，如果我真的富有了，生活会有什么改变。这时我突然觉得，其实并不会有什么改变。惟一的不同就是我将不再为支付每月的帐单发愁；也有可能我会在山里购置一套漂亮的房子，但是我生活的实质内容以及我迄今为止的处事方式都不会发生根本的改变。
这一发现令我浮想联翩。事实上，与朋友通完话后的很长一段时间里我都在思考着这个问题。不妨花几分钟想一想：有许多富人情愿将其一半或者全部资产赠与他人，只求能够换来心灵的满足；还有许多人生活贫寒却心中安宁，含笑终日，不愿为这个世界改变自己的所作所为。究竟哪一类人确实是成功的呢？
我的结论是：同其他任何话题一样，成功也存在着方方面面，取决于衡量它的社会及其评价人的价值观。很多人错误地将成功与富有混淆在一起：他们认为一个人的成功从其拥有的名表、名车或者豪宅上便可窥见。他们在比自己更具经济实力的熟人面前表现得妒火难平。他们总是与比自己富有的圈中人相比较，将自己是否快乐建立在能否达到这些人的生活水准上。但是他们却忘记了去做世间最简单的一件事情，那就是反省并发现自己真正的喜好。
我认为，成功更应该是幸福，而不是富有。因为只有当你对自己的所作所为心满意足，并不为第二天要做的事担忧的时候，你才真正地获得了成功。当你能在一个愉快的环境中生活，并能每天与人轻松相处的时候，当你感受到周围的关爱与理解，感受到自己的付出得到了珍视且不必不断改变自己的时候，你才真正获得了成功。当你发现自己的努力造成了影响，哪怕只是给一个人的生活，当你得到的感激不仅来自他人，而且自己也由内而外都深悟到它的时候，你才真正的获得了成功。
因此，衡量成功不是看一个人的钱包或者身外之物，而是要看一个人的人格。你可以在一个人的触摸中感受到它，从一个人的声音中听到它，还能从一个人的眼睛中看到它。成功的人应该充满自信的，明白自己所需并付诸行动。他们只根据自我感觉而非他人旨意来决定自己应该追求什么。
那么，你认为自己是成功者吗？