Personal Success
What the heck is that?
Money, power, wealth, spiritual enlightenment, altruism, helping others, happiness, all of these?
To each, it is different, depending on their standing life, age, maturity, wisdom, experience, etc.
For me, personally, it dawned on me, when I was able to make Dick Van Dyke laugh.
If you've read my piece on anger, then it makes sense that happiness is my preferred way of life. Being able to share that emotion with others, is a personal success.
People will feel and be, whatever they want to, or are used to. We create our own emotional world, filled with all kinds of emotions. What comes naturally is what we're accustomed to through habit, experience, training and such.
What we, as human beings don't want to do, is to step outside of ourselves and see us as others do. That's just not comfortable. We don't like to see ourselves as jerks. Yet, without putting away our defensive ego and taking that step outside of ourselves and judging ourselves as we might judge others, we cannot effectively change ourselves.
That brings me to the story of the time I called my brother's house and my sister-in-law answered the phone with an irritated tone. I quipped "are we angry with my brother?" to which she replied sarcastically, "What gives you that idea?"
I told her, "you do know the rules about men?" She responded with a note of reservation in her voice, "no."
"Rule number 1 ... all men are jerks!" She responded "I'm with you, so far."
"Rule number 2 .... some men are enlightened jerks." .... Silence.
And these rules apply to the entire human race. It all depends on who's judging our actions.
If one lives in a normal society, i.e. where one interacts with others on a frequent basis, one will eventually be labeled a jerk, by others or by oneself.
What that implies is that we are all jerks from time to time (or all the time, depending on the judges) and that the best way to deal with that is to accept it and move on.
What do I mean by moving on?
In my opinion, people can't stay mad at you if they're laughing, chuckling, happy, etc. I've gotten to the point where I'll haphazardly throw out something humorous (at least in my opinion) and sometimes I'll get a laugh or a chuckle ... Personal Success! I've been able to assist someone to leave behind their serious world and, for a moment, have some enjoyment.
Of course, we can't do this all the time, even as professional comics. Professional comics have a difficult time, since they are paid to be funny on demand. And even though they are able to entertain people, it can be very taxing on the comic. Spontaneous or impromptu humor is often preferred, since there is no expectation and the event may last a lifetime.
In my reference to Dick Van Dyke, in my mind, I was able to entertain one of the world's most renown comics with an offhand fraise or two. Here's someone who has made millions laugh (including myself) with his antics and I was able to return the favor. Its also more fun to work with someone who's in a good mood and joke or pun can help set the tone.
Does this always work? Of course not. Some people refuse to be happy or enjoy life, regardless of what's going around them.
So, I take stock of the times I was able to enjoy life with others and try not to dwell on all the times I've been a jerk ... (which I'm really good at ... and sometimes, that can be funny, too.)