A grandfather told his grandson a story of two old high school friends who met eighteen years after graduation.

One was a Senior Partner at a top law firm in the country. The other was the owner of a medium-scale flower shop.

“Look at you! You were always the debater, right from school,” the florist said.

“Haha, that is true,” the lawyer said. “And I still recall you as the president of the agriculture club, always caring for the trees.”

Then the grandfather asked his grandson, “Who was the more successful of the two men?”

“The Senior Partner,” his grandson answered almost immediately.

“Not correct,” the grandfather said.

“He clearly had a better job. No way the florist was more successful!”

The grandfather paused for a moment before finally responding.

“To me, both men were successful,” the grandfather said. “They were working in fields they were genuinely passionate about.”

“But Jajja, the lawyer was definitely earning more than the florist!”

“That’s possible,” the grandfather said. “But you see, the definition of success is different for everyone. To some, it can be money, like you are implying. To others, like me, it is the ability to spend life working on something you are truly passionate about.”

He paused, looking up at the leaves of the tree above them before turning back to his grandson.

“Success means different things to different people. The important thing is for you to stop looking at what others have, and define what success means to you, as early in life as you can.”

Monday Inspiration: Thank you for reading! These reflections are part of our weekly inspiration series, running every Monday on the Lapatutu Blog. Have an inspired week. See you next Monday!