Friendships and money. Also service to fellow man.
A lot of folks back away from the money issue because its hard to gain financial success and few are willing to make the effort to be financially successful. So they chickenshit out and say *oh money means nothing to me, I just want good friends and family.* what a crock. The key is to have all those things and money too. However I do commend people who have made great sacrifices to do work for the poor and destitute knowing they have little hope of striking it rich. Having more disposable income makes life better, there is no question.
There you go again - judging people by your own standards as if they are the only way to go. Money means relatively little to many people not because they don't have it but often because, like me, they have gone through periods of having high disposable income and having no disposable income and have found that their happiness is not directly proportional to either state. Some of the times in my life when I have been most content in and with myself are the times when I have had next to nothing. At those times I have felt like a far more successful human being than the times when I have been unhappy. Generally speaking, our 'needs' rise to meet, and often exceed, our income - so some people are never happy, never
feel successful, however much they have because someone else always has more.
That being said - pretty much everyone here, reading this post on this site is rich. Comparitively speaking. Me for example - I'm working for much lower pay than I could be - that's a choice because this job affords me the precious resource of time that allows me to be a fulltime mother too - but my current debt is about 5% of my current assets. So compared to 95% of the rest of the world I'm very well off - and compared to about 80% of the rest of the world I'm off the fucking scale.
But that isn't how I measure my success - the main way in which I measure my success is by how happy and comfortable the people I love, and specifically those who depend on me, are.
Material comfort plays a part in that - but it is not the main factor. My own happiness and comfort are an important part too, just not as important. I guess I'm talking about loving and being loved in return as a measure of success.
(1) how closely I come to discerning "truth"
(2) how closely what I do, or will have done with my life, is in accord with 1
I like that - but how can you tell what 'truth' is?