No Formula for Success (Paper 3)

America is known to be the land of opportunity. People migrate to America from all over the world at an attempt to be successful, if not make it easier for their children to be successful. But what is success. If you are asking an immigrant laborer working for minimum wage what his or her idea of success is, chances are their response will have something to do with financial stability. The view of success depends on who you ask. In the past, when the world was simpler, success to a middle class mother would be to raise a family and have children with good morals and good manners. In contrast, success today is based upon what the media portrays. Since the world is as technologically advanced as it is, it’s easy for the media to influence our daily lives and beliefs. Today, this generation continuously focuses on materialistic ideas of success. Success is portrayed by the media as a glamorous and luxurious lifestyle where you are constantly being catered to and adored by many. My idea of success is a combination of the two clashing worlds: old fashioned family morals, a laid back attitude, and a hectic, fast paced, financially based portrayal of success.
My view of success comes from a variety of different things: my ethnicity, age, media, friends, hometown, faith, and most of all, my family. Growing up in this generation, it is hard not to be influenced by the media or technology in one way or another. Financial stability would, also, be a small measurement of my success. I don’t need all the luxuries in the world, but to be financially independent will show that I’ve put my time and resources to good use. Way more importantly than financial criteria, a crucial measurement of my success will be the people around me and their attitude on life. I will measure my success by the type of relationships I have, my outlook on life, and my friend’s outlooks on life. If I have back stabbing friends, disobedient reckless children, and I am miserable everyday, I would say that I have an unsuccessful life. Success, without a doubt, is also living life to the fullest. I don’t hold back, and if I feel like doing something, reckless or not, I impulsively do it. If I were to measure the amount of success I have in my life right now, I would say that I am pretty successful according to my personal criteria. I have great friends, and I am constantly learning and working towards my self actualization. James Dean put it nicely by saying, “Dream as if you'll live forever and live as if you'll die tomorrow.” If you constantly have that outlook on life, and you are a good person, and do what you love no matter who is looking or judging, in the end I think success will find you.
Needless to say, I feel only a small percentage of this population have the same laid back outlook on life and success as myself. Today, societies is so fast paced and the media constantly orbiting around drama, excitement, and money, people can get caught up in it and lose touch of what is really important to them. Even the most financially stable and talented person can get trapped into the chaotic pressures of society. For example, one of my best friends is the most well equipped person to lead a successful life. She is one of the most talented people I know. She’s gifted with artistic ability, acting ability, intelligence, articulate speech, and she is very caring, but for some reason she is constantly in a worried state about the future and her place in it. I couldn’t tell you exactly what makes an insanely talented person worry so much, but I think the link to her and others in her position is the media and/or the environment it creates. I don’t think my friend is consciously or easily influenced by media; I consider her very strong willed and sort of stubborn, but just as the media influences me, it has an effect on her by the environment it creates. It’s inevitable to be influenced by the media, whether you are aware of it or not.
Growing up and making decisions about your life and beliefs is a very scary thing. As this generation continues to become more technologically advanced, the media needs to be careful of what message they are sending to viewers, especially young viewers. Society needs to go back to remember what is important and, like I said before, if you constantly have a carpe diem outlook on life, try your best to be good person, and do what you love no matter who is looking or judging, in the end I think success will find you.