The Wisdom of America's Elders

Interview of the Week

How Would You Answer These Questions?

Success and Failure
What are the proudest accomplishments in your life? Why? How do you define success? What qualities are necessary for a person to lead a successful life? How important has money or wealth been in your life? How important was success/failure in your career compared to success/failure in your family life?

Maria (54): I am proud of my accomplishments. I worked hard to perfect my abilities. Positions in the court system commenced from being a receptionist and worked every position up to being the Court Executive. I did not become wealthy in my position, but I achieved in having a comfortable life. I live in our own stucco house nothing fancy, just simple. We own a condo in Pismo Beach, have 3 acres in Modoc County, and a shareholder at Pismo Coast Village (a recreation park). We do not have a large bank account, but we are comfortable.
My failure or down fault was my years of struggling in my writing skills. I did not receive proper English education in my earlier years and at home we spoke broken English. I educated myself by reading books and listening to audiocassettes. I also attended many classes. My other problem was not being assertive. It took me a couple of decades to build my strength in being more assertive. What helped me was attending the "Dale Carnegie Training Institute" classes. These classes gave me the courage and the knowledge in improving my skills in dealing with people. It also assists me in being more assertive as well as being aggressive in my business and personal life.

     Howard (80): In addition to the fact that I married happily, had two wonderful children and five dear   grandchildren, I would say that my other proudest accomplishment was to overcome, to a fairly good extent, a speech impediment (stuttering) and finding that I could develop continually in my job capacity and interactions with people.
     I failed in opportunities offered to me early in life due to my speech impediment. It made me realize that I had to try to correct this speech problem and I went to several schools to seek help and did indeed find it. Although not completely cured, I found a way to help myself.
     I feel that a person is successful in life if he does the best that he can and that he be the best person that he can, with strong morals and integrity. These are necessary qualities for true success, in my opinion, but also that a person be sympathetic to his fellow man. It seems that wealth, or comforts, come to this kind of person in a very natural way.
     Wealth, in my estimation, is not having to worry about where your next meal is coming from and having a good shelter for your family. I always saved at least 10% of my gross salary. I vowed early on that monetary security was imperative. I feared the poverty I once felt. Having comforts that have nothing to do especially with what your neighbors or friends have, but what you can manage, is at least what I would hope for myself and for my children. To be successful in any work that I ever did was very important to me. I worked hard as a youth and continued to work hard mentally and physically all my life.   My family life was the reason that I worked so hard. One without the other was not on my menu.

This Is Where You Can Get The Direct Benefit
of The Experience of America’s Elders

We all learn from one another, and seniors have a lot to offer, but our recommendations are often overlooked. “Been there and done that,” has real meaning for most of us. We’ve pretty much seen and done it all. And, we can usually size up most situations that may be a dilemma for others, especially for younger people who often don’t know how to handle many problems.

So, if you have a question that is troubling someone you know, click here and tell us about it.