2008-06-25 - 9:06 a.m.
There are different levels of ambition we all strive for. It may be perceived as purely natural, of nature that is, in that it is a trait associated with survival. Innovation, skill, adaption and improved fitness manifest from ambitiousness. Back in the good-old-days of yester-millenia, ambition would have been defined a little more simply, such as daring to cross an unknown land or eating that weird red fruit that everyone assumes is poisonous. As such, ambition is a risk, or a stressor, as it were. We take on some stress to improve our situation. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it causes us harm.
Today's ambition is a little different from venturing into unknown lands and risking death at the behest of trying to eat a colorful new meal. Humans have mapped the planet and we've practically monocultured everything edible and have machines to test the edibility of what we haven't. So our ambitions lie with advancement within human communities and structures.
Some people climb skyscrapers, because they're there. Mountains are so passe. Some people dare to mix different flavors of food ingredients to try new things. Some use their imagination to think up new gadgets, toys, innovations and tools. Some create entertainment for us with their words, music, art, or actions. They then try to promote their creation to the rest of the humans, asking us to accept, adopt and incorporate their new thing into our lives. They want to leave their mark on this world. They want their ambition to pay off.
For the rest of us, this level of openness and risk of the human wilderness judging our creation, nay judging our souls, may be too stressful. For us, ambition may only go so far as pushing us to risk quitting one job for the possibility of brighter possibilities in another job. Some of us may risk moving our life from one place we feel very comfortable to another place that may or may not be more pleasant. Some of us may feel that something as simple as saying hello to a new person may be an ambitious undertaking. And every one of these simple ambitious actions may be almost as equally stressful to a person as one of the more difficult actions such as inventing a new flavor or climbing a skyscraper. Each of us has an inherent capacity for stepping beyond our comfort zones, wighing risk versus reward, to satisfy the call of ambition. And that is okay. No one is judging. We are our most vociferous critics. And even if others judge, so be it. They are not going to take away our individuality. They are not going to thwart our humanity because of their close-mindedness.
Ambitious endeavors can and should be undertaken with measured strides. Always, always, always approach a new ambitious deed with a backup plan (or two) and a conciliatory self-affirmation that this one deed is not the end of the world. It is not the make-it or break-it point in our lives or our livelihoods. And if it is, the ambitious person must reevaluate the level of faith they have put in their ambition and their way of life. That much trust and that many eggs in one basket may be a diagnosis for an undiscovered self.
Starting life by talking to people is very important. Not judging. Not pushing. Simply discussing and being discussed. Listening and learning. Weighing logically and developing a self and a well-rounded perspective on who one is and what one is to do while here. Never too much. Never too little. Analyzing one's tools at hand. Analyzing one's environment. Understanding one's place in the web of people, location, nature, resources, beliefs, and internal desires. These should be the starting points for us all.
Everyone, above all else, should be true to themselves. Having a definition. Knowing themselves. Staying true to that self, and not allowing the inevitable deception of others to make them stray far from those beliefs.
Once an ambitious plan has been defined around a firm system of belief in one's self, the act of carrying out that ambitious desire can and will be more fulfilling, or I daresay, fun. Knowing that doing whatever it is we truly desire to do is an act of being, not an action caused by a reaction, is the way we must all proceed.
If you are going to try for a new job, it should be because you want to, not because you are forced to, else it will not be as valuable to you. Knowing that if you are trying to have children it is because you will have that part of your life better defined, not because you are being coerced or cajoled, means that road to your ambition is more meaningful. Bringing your imagination to life and creating something new out of nothing that existed there before except an idea can be so much greater if it is fashioned after that self-image that has honed and refined itself to the point of being a solid and immovable self-definition.
If you are being ambitious, do not be lackadaisical, but approach whatever it is you are doing with an ease of mind knowing that life will go on after your attempt. If it is an important ambitious attempt, work that much harder at getting it to work for you. If it is an ambitious attempt doing something that is do-or-die, allay all distraction, pull no punches and fight to the last breath to make sure you succeed.
�
�
