Success

After a day of protests in every state I check the news and find nothing. Even in the online media most of the stories are about celebrities, the oscars and other irrelevancies while thousands take to the street in protest. While people act together to bring change to our sick society, consumers sit in front of their televisions and numb their minds with delusions. Consumers want things. They watch commercials and drool over the latest gadets and gizmos and dream about being rich enough to afford it all. They measure success, as they have been brainwashed to do, by how much they can buy, how big their television is and how big their house is. The greatest measure of success, they have been taught, is how much money and stuff they can accumulate. They strive to emulate the shallow facade of wealth yet never realize they won't be allowed into that inner circle. They believe the soothing lies that are told to them; they can be like the celebrities, they can be wealthy and control their own destiny, this is the land of opportunity where, if you work hard enough, you can be successful too. In their quest for success they give up their time, their weekends, even their lives, never realizing what they are really giving up is success.
So what, then, is success?
Success is working together to solve problems. Success is revisiting kindergarten and finally understanding the childhood lessons taught by Seame Street. Success is realizing that love of family, friends and community are the greatest gift we can give or receive. Success is knowing you are a part of all that is both as an individual and as part of the greater whole.Success can not be bought, sold or traded. We each have within us the tools we need to succeed. We each can help those less fortunate than ourselves. We can work together to make a better life for all. We can feed the hungry, we can help the elderly, we can educate our children. We can be a nation of people who care about each other and the world we live in or we can be a nation of consumers always looking for more until there is no more to be had by anyone. It seems like a simple choice