The True Meaning of Success And Why It Matters

Last week I was sitting in my kitchen, talking with a dear friend about life, recent events and what matters most and she said something that struck a cord with me.

She said, “The world’s definition of success is all a sham.”

Let me back up a bit.

Days before having this conversation, my friend and I, along with a large group of people, attended the Special Olympic World Games in Los Angles. These games were said to be the largest athletic event in Los Angeles since the 1984 summer Olympics, making it pretty epic.

Photo Credit: Special Olympics Connaught, Creative Commons

It just so happens two of my kids have Down syndrome, so this was not an event my family and I would be missing.

As a mother of three, a wife, a writer and someone who is a tad bit competitive (not to mention a tiny bit of a sore loser) what I witnessed in the athletes from all around the world who were participating in the World Games, blew my mind.

One particularly moment of that day sticks out in my mind.

It happened during the medal ceremonies for athletes who were competing in the powerlifting events. The names of the athletes were announced and each took their place on the podium—one on the gold medal stand, one for silver, etc, etc.


And yet it seemed every athlete could have switched spots and no one would have been disappointed.

I stood there watching these athletes receive their medals, my eyes full to the brim with tears of hope and joy and pride, and the thing that stuck me most was how these athlete so genuinely celebrated each other’s victories.

For them, winning and being the best was not the ultimate goal.

What I was learning as I watched bronze, silver, and gold medals adorn the athletes necks is that the most important aspect of the games, for them, was doing the very best they could with what they had and finding contentment in that.

Then, genuinely celebrating the best in the person next to you.

Can you imagine a world where everyone lived like this?

Everyday we wake up in a world that tells us we need to be more, better, bigger, faster. A world that whispers lies of not enough, and gives us a faulty lens that we use to compare ourselves to the people around us.

We convince ourselves that if we are not the best, we have failed.

But the athletes competing in the Special Olympics, as the medals were being placed around their necks, taught me that when you do the very best with what you have, you cannot fail.

There is so much joy to be found when we lay down our pride and celebrate the very best in the people around us.

I left the World Games with a whole new perspective.

My son with Down syndrome on my hip, and my daughter with Down syndrome holding my hand, I couldn’t help but think about how much we have to learn—those of us who, on the outside appear to have everything, and yet keep fighting for more.

I was full to the brim with hope and inspired to think life could be different. The world could be different.

Our definition of success could change.

And that night, in my kitchen, as my friend and I recalled the events we had witnessed, we reflected on the lessons we had learned and celebrated the real successes happening in our lives.

“The world’s definition of success is all a sham,” she said.

And I couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree.