“What is your most desirable ambition in life?” I feel that the most common answer would be, “to be successful.” But as society continues to let wealth and money dictate the measurement of success, everyone has different ways of achieving, let alone, defining it.
But when asked the question again, how many times have you heard the answer, “My desirable ambition is to be happy.”- Okay, Beyonce beat us to this one, but she’s an exception, simply because she’s…Beyonce. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch her Pretty Hurts music vid.)
Therefore we can say that success is not only being able to live an accomplished life, but to be happy with is as well. What’s the point if you’re not happy? So then we ask “But how does one achieve happiness?” This question may seem simple, but take into an account life’s complexities, unfortunate events, heart breaks, disappointments, failures, unmet expectations, and crushed hopes. If you really think about it, this question is actually pretty loaded.
This is where I like to apply my own equation to my own pursuit of happiness: Success = Happiness = Balance.
What exactly do I balance, you may ask? Three things my father taught me: Faith, Family Finance. With these three things, I answer three universal questions of my life: Why / Who / How
Faith:
To some, if faith isn’t regarded as a religion, it could be something else they believe in. But as for me, it is something spiritual. I do believe in a higher power. Because for me, believing in something greater than myself keeps me grounded and humble. It gives me hope when I’m helpless, it gives me reason to chaos and it gives me purpose to live. This is the why I live.
Family:
This is an obvious one, they brought me into this world and taught me how to live in it. Without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. And to my closest friends, you are my family. Both are support systems that I can’t get anywhere else. And according to some seminar speaking business guy “Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness; you will get your own happiness. And this is the purpose of human life…” They are who I live for.
Finance:
Money isn’t everything, sure. But let’s just be honest with ourselves, money is pretty damn important. But it’s not money itself, it’s what money can do and provide. And in order to support myself, my family and to the higher being who, I believe, blessed me with everything I own, I need dough. This is how I live. I believe in working hard and striving for better, not ever settling for less than what I deserve. I believe in progress and not letting my youth, experience or insecurities prevent me from achieving greatness.
So then there’s this triangle:
Have you heard of the phrase, “too much of anything isn’t good?”
Well apply it to this triangle. Obsession in advancing your career costs time that could have been spent on building and maintaining your relationships, while corrupting spiritual faith with greed. Relationships with your family and friends are important, but if they demand more attention than you can handle, you’ll end up sacrificing your financial and spiritual responsibilities for your yourself. And this one might sound strange, but even too much faith could be dangerous. Too much can alter your perceptions of the realities of life. Relying everything on faith can leave us dependent and sometimes clueless, that’s if we are not accountable of our own actions and if we fail to own up to our responsibilities. I use a triangle because each element support each other in my life. They are pillars that hold me together and without them, I collapse. They are the why, who and how; my purpose. Keeping all three of them balanced, I’ve found that I am at my happiest.
And I know that there will be moments where balance will be a feat for me to achieve. Because as a human being, I love to walk, skip, jump, leap, twirl, dance, and run through life, which leaves me hanging on the edge or on the grown, fallen. But then I remember that I can just get up. Because we have two feet for a reason: perfect balance.
NIKKI SHERI 