Article 2

 It could be simple, and it could be complicated, but I am coming from an objective, gritty, sweaty, realistic viewpoint that genuinely and ultimately works in reality. It does not matter to me if I temporarily fail, what matters is the ultimate successes. Indeed, actually winning the "immediate pot" of looking good in the eyes of others does not matter, I want overall success ultimately in my own eyes genuinely. That is really it. When I think of success and failure, I think of it a little differently than most people do, I understand: Success is overall winning however much temporary failure may come. Real failure is giving up my ideal permanently without genuinely changing my approach at crucial times in a closed minded way that really is weak. For, indeed, all failure is temporary when looked at correctly, and all success is success when genuinely recognized.

Failure is simply training and temporary, success is repeatable when genuine and not based on luck or "good fortune on the first try".

Every single article I use the Mark Spitz quote "We all love to win, but who loves to train", that really is where I am uniformly coming from. Not to be preaching or anything, but that is how I live, I consider real success something I can genuinely repeat, depending on luck or "good fortune on the first try" is the most genuine of failure to me really. Indeed, from my point of view "hitting the jackpot easy" works for very few because of the nature of this reality. In my mind, real success comes with earned skill and is repeatable.

We all love success, but do we have the patience to make it repeatable and real without cheating, short cuts, and weak "bunny hopping through the pea patch" as the great Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball Association announcer Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn put it about cheating fouls in basketball and lucky jump shots done wrong that made it with a "stutter step" or desperation throw that got past the referees of the basketball game. After all, what is greater than genuinely developed skill and perfection without cheating? Nothing. Nothing else looks better either when success, real success happens.

When you live life well, I do know what is up there beyond the sky: Real success and the satisfaction of a life well lived and persevered with, not some heaven where harps are played and we get a "pat on the back" from Saint Peter. I take a John Milton approach to it all, it is done inside our souls and minds first or not done at all.

My name is Joshua Clayton, I am a freelance writer based in Inglewood, California. I also write under a few pen-names and aliases, but Joshua Clayton is my real name, and I write by that for the most part now. I am a philosophical writer and objective thinker and honest action taker. I also work at a senior center in Gardena, California as my day job, among other things, but primarily I am a writer.

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