The American Dream: The True Definition Of Success

Success is an abstract concept because it has numerous shapes and forms. The more commonly known definition of success is: “The prosperous achievement of something attempted; the attainment of an object according to one's desire: now often with particular reference to the attainment of wealth or position.” Nowadays, mainstream marketing and media have strongly blinded and influenced our society into accepting a fabricated and potentially dangerous definition of success. Most marketers want us to believe that having an abundance of cash, living in a big house, owning luxurious cars, and having the latest technologies/gadgets will lead us to happiness and success. This overstated, falsely advertised statement is hardly ever the case in real

The American Dream is the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and ambition. It takes hard work, dedication, and even sacrifice to become successful in life. However, marketers want us to believe that living a selfish life, involving nothing but the pursuit of obtaining money and fame will bring success and happiness. Sadly, this is not true. Though money can buy conveniences and comforts, one needs much more than superficial luxuries to live a successful, well-balanced life. Money does make life easier, but it does not necessarily make it better. For example, money can not make one knowledgeable or wise because that only comes with hard work and a committed mindset to study and learn. Money also can not help create a long-term relationship with a husband or wife because that only comes through love, commitment, and sacrifice. All the money in the world cannot teach respect or courtesy because that only comes with a good upbringing and a strong concern for the feelings of others. All of these traits—knowledge, wisdom, love, respect, patience—are essential attributes of a successful person’s life. Money can not assist in the acquirement of any of these important traits. Money loses its value from the pursuit of success by providing distraction, temptation, and corruption. Therefore, the marketer’s

An example of this would be from Sherman Alexie’s "What Ever Happened to Frank Snake Church?". Franch Snake Church, a 40 year old Spokane Indian and a once well-known basketball player, honors his father's death by obsessively throwing himself back into the sport of basketball that he sacrificed long ago because of his mother’s death. When Preacher told Frank, “And I asked one thousand mothers and fathers how they would feel about a forty-year-old son who quit his high-paying job to pursue a full-time career as a playground basketball player in Seattle, Washington, and all one thousand of them mothers and fathers cried in shame.”, Frank responded by saying “it’s true. I’m not kidding. This is, like, a mission or something. My mom and dad are dead. I’m playing to honor them.” Frank didn’t need money to be successful. Instead, he chose to use the essential attributes—knowledge, wisdom, love, respect, patience—to assist him in his pursuit to success. Witnessing him work through these hardships was painful, but he didn’t give up and kept climbing to reach success to the