My dad was a bartender. My mom was a cashier a maid and a stock clerk at K-Mart. They never made it big. They were never rich. And yet they were successful. Because just a few decades removed from hopelessness they made possible for us all the things that had been impossible for them.
The sad thing is most people have to check with someone before they do the things that make them happy. We're all passing through the least we can do is be happy and the only way to do that is by being selfish.