The Honor Roll of Life


All too often, people pursue a vision of material success at the expense of the other aspects of their beingness. In fact, our current culture is so plagued with this narrowness of vision, so focused on the material, that the soul of our society is in danger of being lost.

Corporate CEOs sacrifice ethics and integrity in pursuit of profits and personal gain. Politicians sacrifice honesty and compassion in pursuit of control and power. Individuals sacrifice accountability and self-actualization in pursuit of comfort and security.

Success is commonly equated with attainment, acquisition, accomplishment and achievement.

This is natural. It is a part of the very nature of human beings to reach for the goals of doing and having more. Without this drive, it is unlikely that we would have evolved to the point that we have. Without this drive, mediocrity would be the norm.

However, there is a higher vision. It is harmony. Harmony is beyond having and doing. It is about being.

In this higher vision of success, the goal is the concordance or agreement of all aspects of one's beingness.

The more evolved human being endeavors to establish and realize ideals in all aspects of their beingness.

Material and Financial:
Success in this aspect of self equates to the havingness (attainments, achievements, acquisitions and accomplishments) that most people associate with success.

Physical and Environmental:
Success in this aspect of self equates to having the health, vitality and well-being of body, home and world.

Emotional and Relationship:
Success in this aspect of self equates to having happiness, compassion and social responsibility.

Mental and Educational:
Success in this aspect of self equates to having a continuous intellectual growth and expansion of consciousness.

Spiritual and Ethical:
Success in this aspect of self equates to having defined purpose and values, and to having the recognition of the unity and sacredness of all things.

Real success is the havingness of harmony in all these areas of one's life.

Before one can 'have' anything, it is necessary to do or act. Therefore, in order to have harmony in all aspects of self, you must act harmoniously. You must do the things that lead to harmony.

Before you can do anything, you must first be. Therefore, in order to act harmoniously so that you can have harmony in your life, you must first be in harmony with all aspects of self and with the world you inhabit.

True success, then, begins and ends with learning to be in harmony, in tune with, in accord with, in concord with, in agreement with all aspects of self and with all creation.

Success is not forsaking the spiritual for the material. It is also not forsaking the material for the spiritual. Success is, like all creation, a holistic thing of beauty and balance, concordance, harmony.

Back when I went to school, the marking of success was 'c' for average, 'b' for better than average, 'a' for good and 'h' for excellent or the honor roll.

In the school of life, you can set your sights on getting a grade of straight 'A's and focus on the Attainments, Acquisitions, Accomplishments and Achievements or you can go for the highest mark, the 'H' of the honor roll and focus on Harmony.

As always, the choice is yours to make.

© Leslie Fieger. All rights reserved worldwide.

Leslie is the author of The DELFIN Knowledge System Trilogy: The Initiation, The Journey and The Quest plus many more success publications. He also the co-author of The End of the World with Hugh Jeffries and Alexandra's DragonFire with his daughter Ashley. Subscribe to his free and ad-free eZine at http://www.ProsperityParadigm.com or http://www.LeslieFieger.com

Reprinting and republishing of this article is granted only with the above credit included. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright.


MORE RESOURCES:
RELATED ARTICLES
The Courage To Act
The world is full of people with great intentions. They dream about all the wonderful things they would like to have and do in their lives, as soon as they get around to it.
Authentic Success
A More Effective WayI own a stack of self improvement books ten feet tall. Achievement seminars I've attended number in the dozens.
Listen Up
There is a close link between respect for another person's viewpoint and effective communication. The most successful people those who communicate well and regularly.
Belief And Action Succeed
For centuries Protestant Christians have argued that you can reach heaven through faith (belief) alone while Roman Catholics have argued that both faith and works are necessary for salvation. However, both groups agree that faith and works are essential in the life of the true Christian.
Communication and Communication Skills - Understanding Your Audience
Response means "to answer" and that idea, in its purest form means a complete and honest answer, with all of the detail that constitutes a meaningful communication. Semantics teaches us that we must appraise our "audience" and determine the language level, detail level, maturity level etc.
More Effective Communication - Weight Loss For Your Mouth
Language constitutes our belief system. What we believe is true for us or our version of reality at large.
10 Universal Principles of Success
Success is not something that only a chosen few can achieve. Everyone can be successful in every area of his or her life.
Success Showdowns
I confess, I love westerns. There is nothing like those "Showdown" scenes where the film is shot from down low and you see those boots moving slowly, step by step until they come to a stop just 100 feet from the other guy.
Success Through Work And Training
Most self-help truths are obvious but obvious truths are often forgotten. We need reminding of them again and again.
Tracking Success With A Goal Tracking Chart
Creating a goal tracking chart is as simple as drawing a basic grid or table. Create as many vertical columns as you have goals to include, and include a horizontal row for every sub-goal or milestone you wish to divide your goals into, plus one row on top for your "Finish By" date and one row below for your goal heading or title.
Habits and Success
I got a big reminder over the last couple of weeks about what happens when you let your good habits slip - and how easy it is to fall into the trap of being overwhelmed.This week when I am getting back into the habit of having the dishes cleaned up before I go to bed, eating healthy, and actually getting to bed at a reasonable hour, I am seeing again what a difference it makes in my productivity.
Reach Your Goals - Create A Soundtrack
Choose a personal theme song and soundtrack that stirs you and refocuses you on your goal What would a superhero be without theme music? And what about those soundtracks used in the movies to make sure that those of us in the audience are either gripping our seats or bawling our eyes out on cue?  Why not do the same for your life? Choose a song that seems to "say it all" about how you feel about your goal, or that just plain inspires you to do your best, then pick a "soundtrack" of other supporting songs to go along with it. Make a tape, burn a CD, or download clips onto your computer - whatever works for you.
Whats the Secret of Your Sucess?
I'm going to begin this article by sharing a little secret with you?'If you want to experience success as an entrepreneur you must first experience entrepreneurial success.'So what exactly do I mean by this?Success is never an accident.
Changing Your Luck
In this week's New Age Notebook, I am going to address a subject that often comes up in the chat rooms: LUCK. Why is it that some people seem to be born with horseshoes up the wazoo while others battle an endless string of disasters and setbacks?Is there such thing as being born under a lucky star? Is it karma or a curse? While some are eternal victims of Murphy's Law: "if something can go wrong, it will.
Finding Your Purpose
What is success? As author and speaker Earl Nightingale said, success is the steady progression toward a worthy ideal. Success is the ability to love, enjoy your work, and have fun in your life.
Five Steps To Success!
If you are looking for a surefire strategy to ensure you are moving towards your goals as fast as is possible then it might well be worth your while to take a few minutes and read this article.Many people have vague notions of succeeding, say they want to be (and do) better, and make all the right noises.
Reach Your Goals - Make A Game Out Of It
Make a game out of reaching your goals Go to a yard sale and pick up a cheap board game, if you don't have any "throw away" games at home.  Sit down and brainstorm a way to transform the game into goal-completion fun.
Success is a 6 Letter Word
Let me ask you a question? What must happen for you to feel successful? Do you need to be admired by the people that you care most about? Do you need to have financial abundance? And if so how would you know what financial abundance is? 1 million dollars, 2, 100, a billion?What is success anyway? Think about it for a moment, is success what you really want or is it the emotions the feelings that you connect to being successful? I mean, if you imagine yourself to be a success, how does it feel? Do it, just for a moment, imagine you to be a total success. What do you see, what do you hear and how does it feel.
10 Compelling Reasons to Stop Singing the Blues
Are you:- feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied with your life?- ready to stop holding yourself back from success?Is it time to:- get rid of self-sabotaging thoughts that keep you down?- say goodbye to the blues and take control of your life?Then the following life-changing information is for you!We're all born with the potential for living a fulfilled, happy and enjoyable life. Some of us achieve extraordinary success in business and in life, some of us watch others achieve it, and many wonder why they come up short.
Double Your Brain Power
Do you think you have an "average" or perhaps an "above average" mental capacity?Actually you have far more brainpower than you can begin to imagine. You have close to, or perhaps even beyond, *genius* potential!You say you don't believe me?The past ten years could well be called "the decade of the brain.