View from Monastery Window, Pizzaonian Monasteries, Pizzaonia
“Fame usually comes to those who are thinking of
something else.” Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr.
“How much of what happens to us is planned and how much is the sheer accident of opportunity? Unfortunately, for many of us, the answer is not obvious until late in life.” Pizzaonius
Part 3 – Success – whatever that is?
Everyone wants to be
successful, few define what that means – we plan a destination and do not work
out the details on how we are going to get there.
Success needs to be
defined. This is an elusive word since
it will be different for each of us.
At a recent seminar
at the Pizzaonian monasteries, Brother Franco and I had an opportunity to have
a long one on one conversation about the idea of success. The following is a transcript of that conversation.
Brother Franco (BF) –
I should say from the start that I do not believe a conversation about success
can accomplish anything.
Brother Giovanni (BG)
– Why? There seems to be so many people
who have made a good living trying to motivate people to be successful.
BF – That has always
puzzled me. I am amazed how many
motivational gurus make a good living in the United States. I would be
curious to know how many of the same people just go from guru to guru.
BG – Are you as
cynical as you seem about the human need to find an answer to a better life?
BF – Yes, I think I am. Here is what a motivational speaker told me about motivational seminars. He said, “The audience is much like that piece of paper lying in the middle of the highway. When the car comes along, that is who I am – the car, I pass over the paper and for brief moment the paper flies through the air consumed with excitement and anticipation – but soon after, the paper floats back to the middle of the road where it again sits waiting for the next car.”
BG – Is the paper
flying through the air what people call “their Oprah moment?
BF – I don’t know
what other people call it but here at the monastery we call it the grand
illusion. The notion that someone is
going to give you the magic bullet to make your life's work is wishful thinking
if not worse.
BG – But you have to
believe that we can make a difference in people’s lives.
BF- I do, but that
type of behavior is a serious commitment – it is not an hour or two of
inspirational sayings that will change your life.
BG – In all your years working with novitiate monks
what is the most important thing you learned.
BF – I have thought a lot about that. I think that everything a person is supposed to be is already within them. The pattern is set. I have been accused of limiting people’s potential with this philosophy, but I am a realist. I believe in exploiting the possible, not in chasing impossible dreams.
To be continued …….. Next – defining success
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