If I tell you, success is an illusion, would you believe me? Many of the people, who reply in the negative, are yet to come across this basic truth of life. The day you realize this, achieving success will become an easier task for you. All of us are born for different reasons. All of us have different goals in life. All of us have varied psychology and self image. But one thing remains common: all of us want to achieve success. But are all of able to do that?

The only reason why all of us are not successful is because the meaning of success for each of us is distinct. The first obstruction in the road of success is understanding the meaning of success. The meaning of success differs from person to person and time to time. As the kid, success might be doing well in your examinations. For a person in a relationship, success might mean to have a good relationship. For an artist, success may mean creating a nice painting. For an entrepreneur, success could be setting up a big business. One person's success may be very trivial in the eyes of the other person.

We all want success? But why? Why is every human being in the quest for success? Why does he need achievements in his life? The best answer would be: Because success doesn't come alone. It brings happiness and satisfaction with itself. But is it true in every case? Just imagine, if you have all the luxuries in life and a lot of money but no one to share your thoughts with, how would you feel? Would you consider yourself to be a success? Would you be happy? Would you be satisfied? Well, you might be successful and earn a lot of money but if you are not happy with your life, its all a waste.

Ask any of the successful people what is the meaning of success for them. They will always say: It means happiness! None of us would like to trade our happiness for success. What I want to emphasize is, success is hugely misconceived. We generally end up saying that we want to be successful, when in reality we crave for happiness. A person who earns less but leads a happy and a satisfied life is much more successful than the people who are very successful in their respective fields but don't have the peace of mind. The meaning of success is truly achieved when your life is full of happiness and satisfaction. If you lack these two elements in your life, no matter what your achievements are, you remain incomplete.

Always bear in mind, success may or may not bring happiness, but happiness always brings success with it. Being successful is very different from being happy. Happy people radiate a positive energy; they are more confident and widely liked by the society. This makes them more susceptible to becoming successful. On the other hand, if you think that happiness will automatically follow success, you might be disappointed. Consider a working mother who has a small baby. For a mother, her happiness lies in being with her child. She considers herself successful only if she is able to develop her child into a good human being. On the other hand, for a working woman, success lies in becoming an avid achiever at their workplace. These two things cannot go hand in hand. A successful career needs a lot of devotion.

So does maintaining a happy and content family. So, it up to the woman to decide what she wants from her life. If she chooses to be a good mother, she cannot pay undivided attention to her work and vice versa. The only thing which can help her decide the right course is where her happiness lies? What would give her more satisfaction? Because no matter what she chooses, she'll definitely be successful in one of her goals.

There are similar choices we need to make everyday in life. At that point of time, it isn't success which matters, its happiness and contentment. So whenever you are stuck in such a situation, ask yourself. What is the meaning of success for you? And if the answer is 'Happiness', please don't say you want to be successful. Say that you want to be happy!!

To your Happiness.