Have you ever felt that (ista) feeling of success, which does not feel like success at all. Perhaps not. But the feeling exists, and I've been learning the proper response to it recently.
Jason Stevens felt that feeling when he received a check for $100,000 to spend as he pleased. He stood dumbfounded amidst applause and finally said, "Don't get me wrong. It's not the amount. But I expected, I don't know, a different feeling . . . ." Miss Hastings reassured him by saying, "Perhaps that is because now, you are a different person" (The Ultimate Gift, 2006).
The same feeling hit me when I finally submitted my senior thesis after researching and writing for a year and a half. I knew that it was a wonderful accomplishment, that it was the result of hard work, that it meant I would graduate on time with my class, that it was a visible symbol of all the learning and growing I had done during the four years of college. But it felt blasé, as if was just any other assignment and all of the extra time and effort really meant nothing special.
What we know and what we feel often collide. Our feelings are sometimes false, no matter how true they may seem. When we can analyze our reaction in a situation and realize that false feelings are robbing us of the joy and confidence gained from successful achievement, we must choose to believe the truth and reject that despicable feeling of disappointment mingling itself with our success.
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