What Matters?

The world at large recognises people who have created wealth and people who have achieved fame and popularity. Their achievements could be the result of their smartness, hard work, and maybe an element of luck too. Many of us may not have reached the heights of success that we desire due to a combination of circumstances and bad decisions. What can make the difference to the road ahead is by recognising some universal principles of life. One principle which stands out is - What matters is not who you are or what you have.

What really matters is how you handle both success and failure. Success may take you to the top of Mount Everest, but the next moment life could you throw you to the bottom of the deepest canyon. Life is like that. A painful financial situation, a nagging health problem, or an incompatible relationship. We rarely have control over many things in life. What we have control over is how we respond to life. Ask yourself: What has failure taught you? What have ungrateful people taught you? What is the universe trying to teach you?

What matters is the kind of person you have become with what you have. Have you become a bitter person or a better person due to the tsunamis of life? In trying times, what really matters is your attitude. No one but you has control over that life-defining quality. As Victor Frankl who experienced torture, hunger, and near-death situations in the Nazi concentration camp, says, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Your attitude will pave the way for a peaceful and joyful state of mind, irrespective of what life throws at you. That alone really matters. That alone defines your destiny and what you deserve to have.