What Defines Success in Your Life?

My wife Becky and I have this time-honored tradition of sharing YouTube music videos on each other's Facebook wall most Fridays.  The song is generally a variation of The Cure's It's Friday I'm In Love, a great song celebrating your loved one on Fridays.  We've sent each other the original, plus variations of the song ranging from bluegrass, country, folk, and all points in between.

Today, being the comedian that I am, I posted the song Friday by Rebecca Black.  Ms. Black is probably a talented young lady, but her song Friday is pretty rough on the ears.  It somehow went viral a couple of weeks ago, and the video on YouTube currently has over 47 million views. That puts this video in the top 200 most-watched videos of all time on YouTube (in just 6 weeks mind you)!  If you must, you can watch the video by clicking here.

That's quite an accomplishment, right?  To go from relative obscurity to an overnight internet sensation?  To be in the top 200 videos viewed of all time?  The original video to Friday I'm in Love from The Cure only has 6.9 million views after almost 3 full years.

When I'm browsing videos on YouTube (because obviously, I like to maintain a tight leash on my time), there are several things I look for.  I like to check out videos with higher view counts, meaning it's probably of good quality and interest to people.  The official Friday video has been viewed 47,000,000 times - probably a hit, right?

But another thing I think about, as I am qualifying videos, is the votes from the listening public.  Each listener is able to vote and give a video a thumbs up (like) or thumbs down (dislike). For example, the  the Cure's It's Friday I'm In Love has a 65 to 1 ratio of likes vs. dislikes.

And here's what might sting a bit for Rebecca - her "hit" video has a 8 to 1 dislike vs. like ratio. That's a ratio I've not witnessed before, especially on such a grand scale.  Basically, a ton of people are watching her video, and the majority of people voting do not like it.

What's my point, you say?  Well, in your daily life there are plenty of things you can do to make yourself look great.  But when push comes to shove, is there a real value to what you've done?  What are you doing that impacts other people?  What are you doing, or creating, that will have a lasting impact?

II Corinthians 5:9-10 helps us define our lasting success.  The passage reads - "So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.  For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body."

My questions for you are these: What in your life are you using to define success?  Is it a standard that just doesn't ring true?  Is it the number of Facebook friends you have?  Is it the lifestyle you are living? Are you searching for validation from people?

True success in this life involves what we are accomplishing for His Kingdom, not ours.

Friday I'm In Love

This is a song that celebrates two of my favorite things - the love of my life Becky, and the weekend. I generally have this song and title as my status on Facebook on Fridays, cause it's just a fun song celebrating good times.

My wife and I met in college, the last semester of our senior year. I didn't really even know who she was, and barely talked to her in the one and only class we shared together. Which is weird - our college was a school of about 3,000 students at that time. How had our paths not crossed previously? She knew who I was - I was loud and obnoxious, with crazy hair. I kinda stood out back then. I sat next to her roommate Marlin in chapel (again and again I will reiterate that nothing happening is by chance or luck). If it were not for Marlin, we would have probably never connected. I thank God for you Marlin - being all pushy and bossing me to ask her out.

We only "dated" for 1 week while on campus, then we went our separate ways - her to Pennsylvania, and I returned to Orlando. This was back before the internet was created by Al Gore, so we spent copious amounts of time and money on long distance phone calls. And hand written letters. Oh, how many letters we wrote to each other (and still have tucked safely away). We really got to know each other through the distance - about 10 months total before she moved to Florida.

Now fast forward - it's been 14 years, 2 months and 1 week since our first official date. We've had a great deal of journeys, of most excellent times, and a few rough moments too. Along the way, she's been my best friend, my lover, my true love. I love you my Kadida- always have, always will.

And Fridays? Yeah - they are pretty sweet too. They are generally fun times, leading to a couple of days focused on relaxing, on fun, and on church. Oh, and plenty of time to spend with my bride Becky.

If you are not familiar with this song, or want to hear it again, listen here. In case you haven't picked on my theme yet, each title of my blog (other than my introduction) is a name of a song that I enjoy. For me, I can generally find a song to express whatever I am thinking or feeling. Enjoy!