2014-04-11   Reflection from an inmate in a Hong Kong prison
- to encourage other inmates

(Comments welcome here)

SUCCESS TEACHES YOU NOTHING

People often regard "success’ as the end of their ‘tunnel’, end of their struggle, their perseverance and their chase. They see it as the beginning of a new life of rest and ease; they can then relax and enjoy their achievement. But success is so elusive: from talking to those who have achieved it, I have seen that such people often desensitize themselves to the pain of others, lured by the comfort of their newly acquired success. Life appears to such to be ‘easy’, and if they are not careful, they often find themselves back at Square One !!

Success is a great thing, no doubt, but of itself, it teaches us nothing. Its allure can make us lazy, or naively optimistic, especially when we lose our overall focus in life. It is only from the hardships, struggles and pains of life that we truly learn. So, wherever you are now, and whatever your situation, stay focused ! Life is a teacher whose lessons today will guide you tomorrow. Such lessons are your ‘weapon’ to stay successful, whenever you do achieve it.

But people don’t like to think of their past and their mistakes. Many shed tears when asked to do so, instead of feeling proud that they endured, overcome, and survived until better times came. Our past is our greatest teacher, and guide towards a successful future. Otherwise, we will have gone through hardships for nothing; people usually fall from their high perches of success, because they forget that in order to remain up there, they have to ‘keep fighting’, not get lazy. When we lose focus in our ‘battle’ with life, we become the ‘battled’ and the loser. And when we fall, we so often become angry, aggressive, and even do deals that make our situation worse and even end us up in prison !

Life’, as such, has no mercy for anyone, no feelings for anyone and is ready to swallow us up at the slightest opportunity. So don’t forget the precious lessons you have learnt, but share your experiences with others and in this way, you will save dreams and even lives. It is during hard times you really need to ‘take notes’, because then, during success, you will have less to learn. Success is a situation that comes and goes like any other; the trick is to hold tight to it by applying lessons learned in harder times, otherwise we will most certainly fall.

In John’s Gospel, ch.11, when Jesus’ friend Lazarus was lying mortally ill on his bed, he might have thought that God had forgotten him. But what he did not know was that God was preparing him for a testimony that would shock the world though Christ’s miracle of raising him from the dead. The same with you, you might look at your situation and think that God has forgotten you. But you have no idea of the plans God has for your life ! If God allowed us only to experience success, we might think it was all because of our own power. God, instead, lets us go through hard times, because He knows that it is only then that we learn to seek his face. God knows that ‘success teaches us nothing’. So when you do reach the end of your tunnel and God authorizes success in your life, respect it and hand God the steering wheel.

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