Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today I'd like to explore how we define success in our lives. And, you know, this is really important these days to look out for ourselves because our culture and the world around us hold material success and individual achievement, and special-ness as the highest values. It's an idea that's promoted to us constantly through the media and advertising. And the problem with that is that research from the last decade shows that people whose value center around material success actually tend to be less happy and more likely to experience anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and problems with intimacy.

And this is regardless of age, income or culture. So when we strive to acquire status wealth and achievement in an attempt to gain happiness, in fact, we might be pushing it away. So in his book, The High Price of Materialism, psychologist and researcher, Tim Kasser shows that materialistic values actually undermine our wellbeing as they perpetuate feelings of insecurity, weaken the ties that connect us as a community and make us feel less free. My personal story. My uncle Jeff is one of the happiest people I've ever known.

He's lived a simple life in harmony with a couple of acres of land he lived on. He grew much of his own food, took care of his neighbors and friends and did kind deeds when no one was looking, except me from the back of the car. He was never ambitious in a worldly sense and really had no interest in standing out or amassing wealth. He valued sustainability, contentment and kindness, and lived a really quiet and yet fully rich life. Although he was sometimes criticized for his choice to live that way, he never wavered from his own path and lived a very happy life.

That was his life. Now, what about ours? What about yours? So there's nothing wrong with having nice things or achieving big goals. There's nothing wrong with living simply or humbly either. What is important is that the goals and values that you have are focused on truly what's important to you and what leads you to living a more happy and meaningful life. My invitation to all of us today is to take a step back and think about what success truly means to us, not what anyone else tells us, but what we truly value deep in our hearts.

So maybe your definition of success might be being grateful for the abundance and beauty in your life, looking after your mind and body, while also being kind to others, living sustainably, contributing to the community. I mean, that sounds like a pretty meaningful life to me, but what does success look like for you? Maybe, you know, see if you can get clear on that today and consider the wisdom in these simple words from Albert Einstein, "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. I hope this practice I offer you today brings more richness and fullness into your life. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.