Faith Storms

What is success? How do you know if you are having it? And what if one person says X is success but someone else says Y is success. Who is correct?

As with other life issues, we need to examine success thru the lens of personality. Each personality gem will experience life satisfaction and thus “success” differently.

I think for most of my life I have been judging myself by other gem’s standards. And I would usually feel like a failure. Now I recognize the inherent error in this. What satisfies other gems will not ultimately satisfy me as a pearl.

So let’s run thru each gem and consider what would be success to each gem.

Ruby. Rubies are motivated by competition. Rubies want to win. They want to be the best amongst other people, other competitors. Some rubies may not care about the quality of the competition, others want skillful competition in order to feel at their best when they win. Some rubies will do anything to win, even cheat (by their own admission to me.)

So what is success to a Ruby? I would say it is winning more often than losing. For those who consider how skillful the competition is, winning against a good, tough opponent will be even more deeply satisfying.

Sapphires. The fun loving gem. These folks just want to have fun. They enjoy fun and games. They love people and are comfortable with most.

For this gem life satisfaction is from having that joyous good time more often than not. If these folks don’t have a good amount of fun they will become unhappy or even depressed.

Emerald. This gem is logic based. They need information and data. This gem desires order and control and predictability.

So what is success to an emerald? I would say an orderly life. Having their finances in order, having their affairs in order, working towards their logic determined goals and achieving them.

Pearls. Pearls are kind and compassionate. Motivated by service to others.

What does success look like to a pearl? I think it is about considering how well we have served others in any given day or situation. Have we given from our hearts? Have we given quality service to others? If we can answer yes, then we are successful.

Now, we are all two gems, one dominant, one secondary. So how does this effect life satisfaction?

Just as our dominant gem determines our primary life motivation, I also believe our deepest life satisfaction will also be in alignment with this gem. Our secondary gem also will affect how our success feels to us.

As a dominant pearl my drive to help others is very strong. It IS my life purpose. As an emerald secondary I wish to have my life orderly. I wish to help others in a structured way. I don’t do well in chaos and disorder. And I need information. I constantly seek information in helping myself and others.

When I am driving home from work I ask myself how did I serve today? Was I present? Did I serve with excellence? If so I tell myself I was successful. And I allow myself to feel proud and satisfied. And I truly do feel deep satisfaction in thinking of the clients I was there for, the friends I supported.

A pearl/saffire would need to have fun while serving others. A ruby/saffire would need some fun while winning to have the most satisfaction. See how that works?

So, when looking at our lives we need to use proper standards.

And when you see yourself succeeding, celebrate your success. Celebrate yourself.