Thought Adjuster: “Your peers may be in awe of your financial or intellectual exploits. Yet, because you are foremost spiritual beings having a human experience, the accumulation of ungodly wealth and dizzying fame is not the criterion by which your life review will be conducted once you depart the world of the flesh. You will be evaluated by the maturity of your character—the only enduring possession you will take with you.

“The career of a God-seeking man may prove to be a great success in the light of eternity, even though the whole temporal-life enterprise may appear as an overwhelming failure, provided each life failure yielded the culture of wisdom and spirit achievement. Do not make the mistake of confusing knowledge, culture, and wisdom. They are related in life, but they represent vastly differing spirit values; wisdom ever dominates knowledge and always glorifies culture.” [UB, 160:4.16]

This statement sheds a different light on human life, turning the stings of failure into spiritual assets. Indeed, if handled correctly, setbacks are great catalysts for character development and the acquirement of street smarts. If you gleaned practical wisdom, aren’t you better off?

“Defeat is the true mirror in which you may honestly view your real self.” [UB, 156:5.17] The same could be said about success.  The way you handle your good fortune tells a lot about you. Do you boast about it, or do you address humble gratitude to The One to Whom you owe everything?  Just as failures can be blessings in disguise, successes can morph into curses.

Successful individuals lay both the painstakingly harvested pearls of wisdom and the shining gems of truth, beauty, and goodness on their altar of heartfelt gratitude for the divine Goldsmith to fashion into stunning adornments.”