Article February 29, 1988 Issue

The success of spirituality

The pressure and frustration that sometimes accompany professional attainment can obscure the deeper purpose of our lives. There's a better way to measure our value.

Miles M. Harbur

Several years ago I began to experience serious misgivings about my career. Although in a prestigious profession with a premier firm and by all appearances humanly successful, I felt my life was out of control. I worked nights, Sundays, and holidays to maintain what I had achieved. There was little time for active church work—just Sunday attendance. And during "free" time with my family, I could think of nothing but work. A persistent feeling that I was misplaced in my profession increased the stress and frustration.

After several years I finally turned totally to God, longing for even the faintest feeling of real self-knowledge and direction. I promised God I would sacrifice any of my worldly success for a clearer idea of who I was and of what He wanted me to do. I began to realize that I was suffering from attraction to a popular model of external success as I persisted in a career that wasn't right for me. Much advertising and popular entertainment delineate this common model of success—wealth, fast-track career movement, positions of glamour and influence. In reality, however, bright, ambitious people can make a shambles of their lives through an obsession with this very same model.

What has gone wrong in such cases? One weakness could be the model itself. Securities trading on "insider knowledge," illicit government dealings, fabricated scientific research, all point to a model of success based on achieving external and materialistic goals, such as wealth or the approval of others.

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