Day 75: Success

Why do you think some people are successful in life and others are not?

Wow, this is a huge question.  I could never answer it. First, I would have to define success.  This is bogus because each person has their individual definition of success.  Really, I can only define whether I am successful. Even then, others could say I am unsuccessful.  I don’t like this question.

Hum, how can I work with this question?  How about how could people think you are unsuccessful and why would you disagree with them?

I could be seen unsuccessful in the vehicles I drive and the type of house I own.  All three of our cars have over 100,000 miles on them. The youngest is six years old.  The oldest is considered a classic. Now we don’t own it due to the classic status. Really, the old truck is just that, old.  Our house is a modular. I have had a number of people make snide comments about this fact. They consider my house substandard.  We also don’t have a any toys. Those big ticket items like campers, RVs, four-wheelers, boats, and the like. So, yes, people out there would say we are unsuccessful. 

I disagree.  All our cars and our house are bought and paid for.  Once a year, I pay all the taxes and insurance on the house.  Every six months, I pay the insurance on the cars. We are debt free.  At some point, we will probably buy a newer vehicle and will have some debt again, but for now, we owe nothing.  As for our future, we don’t have as much invested as we like, but we have more then the average for people our age.  I say we are a financial success.

What makes us successful?  One, we have a clear definition of success for ourselves and don’t let the world define the word for us.  The second part is that we have worked hard for our success. We have never been ones to buy unnecessary toys.  Twelve years ago, we studied Dave Ramsey’s financial rules. We tweaked them for our lifestyle and beliefs. We have applied all of what we learned.  Through our hard work, we have done well.

Of course, we have also been very blessed.  We both had very good jobs with the military and the federal government.  Sure, we took a big hit eight years ago when I was medically retired and lost both my full-time and part-time jobs, but we adjusted fire.  We still succeeded.