The Bitch-Goddess Success

"The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess success. That -- with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease."

-- William James

William James made this statement over 100 years ago. If he thought the American people were morally flabby back then, just imagine what he'd think of us today! 

And he's right. We've missed the friggin' boat when it comes to seeing and choosing what is really important in life. Instead we've chosen to believe in the myths of perpetual economic growth, happiness through material acquisition, and spending our way to success.

On our refrigerator we have a small, two-panel cartoon. The top panel is entitled "Successful Man" and it depicts a man in his car, stuck in traffic, obviously angry, and snarling into his cell phone. The bottom panel labeled "Unsuccessful Man" shows a guy walking down the street, free and unencumbered, with a smile on his face.  It's a cartoon that I'm sure William James would appreciate. It's a cartoon that I use to remind myself how lucky I am that I don't have to battle freeway traffic, but can instead walk around town each day with  smile on my face. And it shows, quite parsimoniously, our national confusion around the true meaning of success.

But like William James, I'm not sure that success should even be our chief aim. Perhaps authenticity, or fullness, or self-actualization, or joy are more worthy of being linked to our life's purpose. One of the major problems with success is how many other things become merely means to its end, how much happiness we sacrifice on a daily basis to attain some mythical, future goal that we think will make us super-happy. It's another example of the specious belief that the ends (success) justify the means (traveling in hellacious freeway traffic to a job you can't stand in order to live in a McMansion you don't need, etc., etc.).

We all need to wise up and go back to basics. What is really important? What do you really enjoy doing? How do you really want to spend your life? As the old saying goes, "No one on their death bed says, 'I wish I'd spent more time sat the office.'"

So, let the bitch-goddess go! I know she's enticing and promises all sorts of future pleasures, but she's a deceiving liar, and the sooner you find out her true nature the better. Morality doesn't have to be a wrestling match with the devil each day; it is deeply encoded in our genes, in our psyche, in our soul. We just need to remove ourselves from the marketing hype and media hoopla so that we can quiet down long enough to hear our real desires, hear what truly makes us happy. And when enough of us do, the tumbleweeds will outnumber the SUVs on the freeways, and walking will once again be experienced and appreciated as both a sane and happy mode of transport.