The Planet doesn't need more successful people?? What?

This morning, I noticed a friend of mine posted a status on facebook that read:

"The plain fact is that the planet does not need 

more successful people.

But it does desperately needs

more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, 

and lovers of every kind."

While I think I understand where she was trying to go with this, I completely disagree with the 'successful people' statement.  I agree that we could absolutely use more peacemakers, healers and lovers in the world today, don't get me wrong about that! But in my eyes, success isn't only measured by how much money someone makes, how big their house is, how many extravagant material items they have, but success can be measured in so many other, positive ways!!  A peacemaker can be successful!  Lovers of every kind can also be successful... and we have so many successful storytellers who have come along and changed our lives and our children's lives... everyone's heard of Walt Disney, right? He was one of the best storytellers around and was super successful at doing what he loved and sharing his love of storytelling with families then and families today!

What about that person whose goal in life is to help others, whether it be helping the poor, helping teach children, helping elders, helping people get healthy... The people who accomplish this are considered very successful people in my eyes!  And I'm sure that if they're doing and accomplishing what they love, while inspiring others to do the same, then they consider themselves to be pretty successful people.

I do agree that we need more people in the world who are willing to base their success on their ability to help others, rather than focusing so much on their own selfish needs, which is another reason that I am so fortunate to have found something that I am truly passionate about, while giving me the chance to inspire and help other people achieve their own goals in the process.

Unfortunately, there will always be those people out there who don't have the motivation to follow their own dreams, find faults in those who do and will probably never become successful in anything but trying to find the negative in most situations.  To these people, I want to say this:  If you want to make a change in the world or even in your own life, then stop worrying so much about other people and their success and be the change that you want to see in the world.  If you want more peacemakers and storytellers, then go out there and do whatever it is that you can do to make more like that.  How can you hold these expectations for others to spread love and happiness, when you aren't even doing it yourself?

And to those of you out there who have a dream and want to be successful in life, I say GO FOR IT!  There's no one holding you back but yourself, but do remember that "Success isn't just about what you accomplish in your life, it's about what you inspire others to do".  So be the inspiration for others, be the example, that through hard work, determination and positive encouragement, you can help the world become the change we need to see... and we can all be successful in contributing in our own ways! :)

~Crystal