Success Pana Hai To... Or Live Free?

A Satirical Reflection on the Modern Definition of Success

📌 Reference Post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EbcZ47WFW/

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Success Pana Hai To...

They told me—

If you want success,

Wake before sunrise.

Sleep after midnight.

Run faster.

Earn more.

Buy bigger.

Smile wider.

Hide deeper.

Network harder.

Never stop.

Never question.

Never breathe.

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If you want success,

Become a brand,

Not a human.

Collect followers,

Not friends.

Collect applause,

Not silence.

Collect trophies,

Not wisdom.

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If you want success,

Work till your heartbeat

Sounds like

A corporate notification.

Keep climbing,

Even if

The ladder

Is leaning

Against the wrong wall.

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And if you want to die...

Keep doing exactly that.

Die slowly,

One deadline at a time.

One promotion at a time.

One EMI at a time.

One comparison at a time.

One forgotten dream at a time.

One neglected song at a time.

One unread poem at a time.

Until one day,

People will say,

"He was very successful."

And no one will ask,

"Did he ever truly live?"

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But I Say...

Be free.

Not from responsibility—

But from compulsions.

Not from work—

But from slavery to recognition.

Not from ambition—

But from the fear of being ordinary.

Earn your livelihood.

But don't mortgage your soul.

Build your career.

But don't demolish your inner home.

Success is a useful servant.

A terrible master.

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मुक्त हो जाओ।

Why are you preparing

For a slow death

In the name of success?

Success is not the destination.

Freedom is.

Not freedom from society—

But freedom from

Greed.

Fear.

Comparison.

Pretence.

Endless performance.

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When music becomes prayer,

When work becomes worship,

When knowledge becomes humility,

When success becomes irrelevant,

Only then

Does life begin.

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"Don't spend your whole life preparing to live.
Live before your résumé becomes your obituary."

— Akshat Agrawal
For the Life Philosophy Series