A shelf is a flat length of wood attached to a part of furniture, providing a surface for object display. An example would be a trophy case, which is usually used to hold awards. At home, my parents have something called the success shelf, a shelf which is supposed to hold all my accomplishments in life. It is completely empty. Imagine what that is like, to have a physical reminder that you have never succeeded in anything, in your entire life.

Now let us define success. Success is the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status. So not only am I a failure by shelf standards, but also by the literal definition of success. That really hurts especially when you learn about people like Brenda Fassie, Adelaide Tambo, and Einstein. These are only a few successful people, and they all made an enormous impact on the world. But here is the catch, were they happy? I do not think we ask that question enough when it comes to geniuses, political activists, or famous people involved in the arts.

So, for now let us forget about the term success, let us talk about self-growth, to be more specific, myself growth. Last year I was a quiet girl with no extracurricular activities, who felt completely invisible. But then I realised that one of my greatest fears in life was being alone, and not in that ‘I do not know how to be independent’ way, but in that ‘if I just disappeared tomorrow no one would care’ kind of way. And that hit me harder than an empty shelf ever could, so I decided to be more active, a lot more social and a bit more kinder. My shelf is not filled with trophies but photos of me, my friends and family; me at my first chess match- which I lost by the way- and speech cards from my first public speaking competition. So not only did I learn what my greatest fear is but also that success does not mean happiness, not all meaningful lessons are taught in a classroom and that an empty trophy case does not mean you have an empty life.


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