(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.)
There is a word that everyone knows: success.
What does success mean to you?
Some people think success means becoming famous. Others believe it means becoming rich.
For a long time, I didn’t like the word success because it sounded too individualistic. It seemed to mean having more fame, money, or status than other people.
Of course, successful people can have a positive influence on others. For example, when an athlete achieves great success, they can inspire millions of people and give them hope and motivation.
I don’t consider myself a successful person. I haven’t achieved anything extraordinary, and I don’t think I’ve contributed much to society. Most people probably wouldn’t pay much attention to my opinions.
However, my definition of success is different. I believe that true success is making the world a better place for the people around us and for future generations. I can be selfish at times, and I don’t always live up to my own ideals.
Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and the first World Chief Scout, expressed this idea beautifully in his farewell message:
“The real way to get happiness is by giving happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that, at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.”
We all have different values, so we all have different definitions of success. And I think that’s one of the things that makes the world so interesting.