Success and Struggle - When Success Doesn’t Show Up

When success doesn’t show up — maybe the dawn is still rising.

What if your struggle isn’t punishment — but preparation?

“Why am I not successful yet?”

It’s a question I hear more and more. From good people. Hardworking people. People with hearts full of faith and hands full of effort. People who aren’t lazy, who do show up, who do keep going.

And still... they come up short.

Recently, a woman messaged me, vulnerable, raw, and brave. She wasn’t asking for help, pity, or money. Just answers. Just relief from the quiet pain of working hard and still feeling like she’s getting nowhere.

She asked why the doors of abundance seem shut. Why others rise while she stays stuck. Why God, or the universe, or whatever we call it hasn’t come through.

And I felt that. Because I’ve asked the same thing.

I don’t have much. I’ve chased financial security and ended up further from it. I’ve pushed and pulled at life until it frayed at the edges. I’ve felt the sting of doing everything “right” and still losing.

But I’ve also learned this........

Success and struggle isn’t what we’ve been told it is.

Not the car.

Not the house.

Not the dinners at fancy restaurants.

That’s consumerist comfort not purpose.

Just because a door is closed doesn’t mean it’s never going to open.

True success is living in integrity with your purpose.

And sometimes, purpose looks like pain. Sometimes, it’s the struggle that carves us into the kind of person actually capable of blessing others, not just financially, but spiritually, emotionally, energetically.

There’s a reason so many people who help others, coaches, counsellors, mentors, all have scars. We’ve been there. We are there. That’s what gives our voice weight. That’s what makes our empathy real.

So I told her...

“Sometimes we have to learn the humility to be carried by others so that we can then show compassion and understand how it feels for others when we carry them.”

That’s not failure.That’s preparation.

Humility isn’t weakness. It’s preparation for strength with compassion.

Lessons hide inside the waiting.

When nothing seems to be moving, something deeper usually is. Maybe it’s the lesson of self-compassion. Maybe it’s learning to accept help without shame. Maybe it’s just the Universe whispering....

“Not yet. Not because you’re not worthy.But because I’m still building the version of you that’s going to change lives.”

If you're in that season don’t rush out of it. Sit with it. Learn from it. Let it forge you.

You are not broken.

You are being built.

And when you rise as you will, you’ll carry others with you.

Not because you’re successful. But because you finally understand what that word really means.

You are not finished — you are becoming.

So hold the line.

Let the silence shape you.

Let the waiting teach you.

Let the struggle refine you.

Because when your time comes and it will, you won’t just rise…You’ll rise ready.

Not just to receive more, but to be more.

That’s the real success. And you’re already on your way.

With love, and fire

Suntwe (Paul Teasdale) P.S. This post is dedicated to the brave Lady that reached out to me. You know who you are