Success Should Be Measured in More Than
Material Wealth
I am amazed by successful
people and I like to associate with as many as I can. I found out late in life that surrounding
yourself with them makes for great conversation and positive uplift. I am
very fortunate to be able to meet so many successful people and be a part of
their lives. I find that most of them
are very similar in their approach to life.
I have also found that some of them don’t realize they are among those I
refer to as successful.
“Get Out Of Line…” – John Pinette
When I was growing up it
was important for me to be liked, to be noticed and most of all be taken
seriously. I am the youngest of three so
the noticed thing was sometimes difficult because I was “just the annoying
little brother”. I really had no method
to my madness but just to be me (and maybe emulate those I found funny). Two schools of thought prevail in child
family order: #1) The first child gets privileges as he grows up and consequently
(being a child) they betray the trust of parents causing more strictness to
follow for the next child and then growing in exponents as the birth order
continues; and #2) Parents strictness lessens and lessens till the last child “gets
away” with “murder”. It depends on your
birth order as a child which school of thought you adhere to. One challenge to this thought is the “middle
child syndrome”. This “syndrome” where
it is mostly given “rolled eyes” is felt by all who lug it around. I don’t profess to understand it but I do
know that a side effect of this “syndrome” is instigation! That’s right, you middle children are all instigators
of trouble! You only children, well you
never where in line so, whatever!
I find though, that success has no real birth order. Those successful people are all over the
board. Now I have met my share of
celebrities. I have met all types’ national,
regional and local celebrities alike. I
will say that the vast majority of them have been disappointing to me; not that
it matters to them they are successful whether I like them or not and whether
they are jackasses or not. They may be
celebrities because of this, but more over I think they have reached that
pinnacle of success because of drive, luck and a really, really thick skin. I recently saw a picture of Bryan Cranston “in
disguise” walking the streets in New York.
He was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses. A funny disguise but, hey I wouldn’t have
recognized him. They all have their
public, outward face and then their “I’m just walking to somewhere important”
face. I am writing though, about
successful people and not only celebrities.
That being said let’s talk about a
commercial
While I am referring to
success on all levels I will exemplify my point of this blog by recalling parts
of a commercial. I don’t remember what
the commercial was for or even the particulars of the commercial. I was just taken by one part. This commercial had Justin Timberlake in it
as himself; he was knocking on a person’s door to surprise her. She was very surprised and made the obligatory
hand over mouth gesture because she very definitely recognized him. She really didn’t know what to do at that
point. He offered his hand for shaking
and said, “Hi, I’m Justin.” What? Well of course you are, you are Justin Timberlake. Anyone of an age will know that. You are a superstar performer and actor. “Hi, I’m Justin”? Really?
Yes, really! These two people had
never met, he didn’t know her from a
certain pet donkey; and she had never met him, that’s right; she stood there
recognizing maybe an idol of her's and fawning over the fact he was at her door
but she had never met him. What a great
kid, he took control of a situation with a simple introduction. I really respect that. Now it might have been scripted, or set up
but man did it look like a real interaction.
Let’s Bring it Back to the Point
Now it is not uncommon to meet local celebrities
out and about in the Omaha area and I have met Governors and Senators. I have booed Congressmen and I have exchanged
niceties with Mayors. All manner of
local celebrities I have met. On a
recent viewing of a play at the Omaha Community Playhouse, I got a chance to
meet another. Dave Wingert has been a
local Radio Personality of decades in Omaha.
He can’t be that much older than I am because he doesn’t look it. Being that I can’t resist the urge to meet
these folks, I very immaturely hollered out in his direction as he was making
salutations to a friend, “Aren’t you Dave Wigert?” He may have heard me but he didn’t make it
evident. He turned away from his friend
and started walking. I repeated my
boorish question a little louder as I approached him. Suddenly I realized this might be a bit
unsettling in a poorly lit parking lot, I smiled and held out my hand. He accepted my hand shake as he spun to meet
my smile. I said some filler words about
being a fan. He replied by saying, “And
your name?” still shaking my hand. I
finished my ridiculous rhetoric, trying not to seem like I was a threat. He again repeated, “And your name?”. I replied with the appropriate response and
he replied, “oh, thank you.” This
exchange struck me as a parallel to the above JT story. I assumed it to be unimportant to him to
introduce myself; he deemed it important for us both to know each other’s
names. It was rude of me to assume what
I did, and it was so very appropriate for him to react the way he did. He was
gracious and engaged in the conversation and I walked away feeling better about
my evening because of it. Now, I am not
a follower of his nor would I say I am even an avid listener but I am aware of
him and his career. I have a new respect
for him. I count him as a successful
person I have met and I liked that he wasn’t a jerk to me, as I feel I may have
been one to him.
Success can be measured in a broad way. Some choose to beleaguer it narrowly, though. That is a mistake. Success is fun, happy and it should be
celebrated. Those folks I have met that
are successful (I count myself in that category too) have two sides. One that is an expression of their station
and confidence in life and the other is when relating how they came to the
success. Hard work, perseverance and
pushing themselves are always among those attributes. They also have a straight forward idea of, “If
you’re not willing to work for it, don’t bother even trying it”. I love this side, this candor that I have
benefited from hearing. I realized it after
seeing this side of success for the first time, from a young male model when I
asked him if he worked out. He obviously
saw this sexy fat man as being unprepared for the work involved in acquiring a physique
like his and addressed my question with a bit of disdain. I was naturally a bit offended by his answer
but realized I had asked the question and should have been prepared for the
answer however it was given; plus he might have thought I was hitting on him. Just another few little pieces of life.
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