What is success, or what would it mean to have succeeded? Society has cowered most people into believing that success is all about: being able to afford shiny and expensive toys, making as much money as would last the 5th generation, living in palatial or posh homes, having an adorable family, attaining celebrity status, feeding sumptuously and partying lavishly, acquiring property all around the globe, threading the corridors of power and befriending those who run things, commanding the respect and admiration of town…

However, those are success improperly called. The succeeding quotes will cause you to rethink success, especially this 2017.

If you have a good name, if you are more often right than you are wrong, if your children respect you, if your grandchildren are glad to see you, if your friends can count on you and you can count on them in time of trouble, if you can face God and say “I have done my best,” then you are a success.

~ Ann Landers

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are no secrets to success. Don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence.

~ Colin Powell

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is the way great spiritual giants are produced.

~ Swami Vivekananda

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

~ Michael Jordan

If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.

~ Albert Einstein

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.

~ Bruce Lee

Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.”

~ Zig Ziglar

Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.”

~ George Sheehan

Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.

~ Bobby Unser

My name is Cornelius, but this piece is nothing about me. It’s neither about the Cornelius of Acts 10 nor the one that was 7th Catholic Pope. No. It is about American Cornelius Vanderbilt – business magnate and philanthropist. This guy was so successful in shipping that he became synonymous with shipping, for which he was nicknamed ‘Commodore.’ Interestingly, Commodore Vanderbilt started out with a small ferry he bought with borrowed sum and rose to the status of richest man in America at a time.

But he didn’t become the richest man in America as the Commodore; he did as King of Railroads. And how did he transit from shipping to rail transport? Of him it is said that he saw his future in the developing rail transport sector, so clearly that he sold his last ship to invest in it. He staked everything. For him, it was all or nothing. And then he made it super big!

Dear friend, until we see our future clearly enough, we won’t have the guts to invest everything in one thing. And we can’t reach world class if we ain’t crazy enough to do that. Kindly take a headcount of all ‘world-classers’ and find that Aristotle did only philosophy, Michelangelo stuck with sculpture, Mozart and Jackson did only music, Bill Gates and Zuckerberg do only programming, Ronaldo and Messi do only footballing…

My point: A piercingly clear vision engenders monomaniacal focus to deliver world class. You can be world class ‘or’ Jack of all trades. You just can’t be both.

Pearl Harbor is one of US naval bases – located in Oahu on the Hawaiian island. On Sunday, December 7, 1941 (during WWII), naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan suddenly and deliberately attached Pearl Harbor, killing an estimated 2,403 Americans. Recall that America wasn’t in WWII yet, which is why the attack was unwarranted. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed that day “A date that will live in infamy” – and got Congress to declare full scale war on the Empire of Japan next day.

As part of this ‘full scale war,’ President Harry Truman, on August 6th and 9th respectively, sent the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki packages that will change everything forever. That package was Einstein’s atomic bomb. And it’s been hell in those cities ever since.

75 years later, December 27, 2016 to be precise, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister, visited Pearl Harbor to offer what he called “sincere and everlasting condolences” to the victims of Japan’s unwarranted attack 75 years earlier. Obama was there with him, and graciously received those heartfelt condolences. I was also there to watch him, but on CNN. 😎

You get my point already, right? It’s never too late to apologize. Trust me, better late than never. Mind you, by and large human beings are good people. They want to forgive their offenders; only that they don’t like to dish out forgiveness on a platter of gold. They want you to fly from Japan to Hawaii, and then say you’re sorry, and they really don’t mind that it took you 75 years. I trust you understand what I mean.

There’s a hidden lesson God revealed in that movie with regards how He runs His packages. Since you may not have noticed it during your watch, lemme quickly share; it was so silent that it needed rapt attention to grasp.

Recall that at a point during Grace Wesley’s trial, bothering on talking Jesus in an 11th Grade classroom, Rev. Dave Hill (Juror No.12) slumped in the courtroom and was replaced by the crazily made-up, loose-looking, and multiple-coloured hair alternate, Miss Marshall. Also recall that the replacement of Rev. Dave with a loose-looking alternate simultaneously made Grace’s camp lose heart and boosted the confidence of the opposing end. Her looks convinced them she’s gonna vote against.

However, it turns out that the same loose-looking alternate saved the day, as her vote tipped the scale in Grace’s favour. How, you may be wondering? Lemme leave you clues. Playback to the last court scene, wherein the jury foreman announced the verdict. Observe that our gaga-looking alternate was the last to leave the jury stand. While headed for the door, observe she stopped in front of Grace and smiled at her, that sort of smile that says, “We’re in the same Jesus’ boat.” One more clue. Just as she was about to exit the door, with her back facing Grace and Tom, Grace saw that right behind her neck, closest to her hair, was a cross tattoo, plus her gentle strides announcing victory.

You can trust that the presence of Rev. Dave on the jury would have adversely affected things. And since God was always gonna win, He had His winning plan in tact from the word go; Dave only had to give way.

Meanwhile, stop judging by appearance; there’s usually more to people than meet the eyes.

And if you haven’t, do whatever it takes to see “God’s Not Dead” 1&2. Please do.