Don’t aim at success – the more you make it your target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue … as the intended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.*
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

As you reflect on how your actions flow outward, creating a cascade of goodness around you, you may experience a feeling of awe.**
Jonah Paquette

The very readable Dan Ariely shares how,
human motivation is actually based on
a timescale that is long, sometimes
even longer than
our lifetime^ –
With such a destination, it is likely that
we are creating quite a journey, one that is
concerning itself with content and form –
What we have and how we shape this for
others:
Story is about originality,
not duplication. True originality is
the meeting of content and form^^ –
These are elements our triple focus of
humility and gratitude and faithfulness allow us
to play with,
Leading to some surprise results.

I don’t remember where I picked up
the following four tests for the kind of cause
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes of,
But they remind us of its bitter and sweet:
Success is not guaranteed;
There will be those who hate it;
It is more important than life itself;
It will be personally transformative:
Time to play.

*Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow;
**Jonah Paquette’s Awestruck;
^Dan Ariely’s Payoff;
^^Robert McKee‘s newsletter: Why We Must Strive For Originality.