Four Ingredients of Success

While working today Southern Man stumbled across Ask James and the following pearl of wisdom:

We have four bodies. The flesh and blood physical, the emotional, the mental, and the spiritual. Every body is fed by food. Emotional food is fed to you when you are people who are positive and avoid people who are negative. Mental food happens when you read, develop ideas, absorb knowledge, spiritual health is obtained when you give up all these man-made definitions of success.

Being a well-educated Christian Southern Man was immediately reminded of this verse:

And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and found favor with God and man.

So Southern Man amends James to say that success is when you make an effort, each day, to grow just a little as Jesus did: mentally, physically, socially (which includes emotionally), and spiritually. Every day do something that exercises both your mind and your body. Take the time to enjoy the company of others whenever you can (no small challenge for an introvert). And make a commitment to deepen your spirituality. Do these things every day and you will find success. Well, just what is success? Success is not measured in paychecks or possessions or the number of square feet of your house or "friends" you have on Facebook. It is measured by the growth of mind and body and spirit and soul. The rewards are peace with your circumstances and confidence in your abilities. The ultimate reward of success is happiness. So strive to be successful, and savor the rewards that will follow.