Aim for the stars.

I was asked the other day there what my ambitions were. I thought for just a short moment and replied, "To be able to get out of my bed tomorrow morning."

I can remember the days when I would have had a much better and further reaching reply to such a question.  I was never short of ambitions. That is to say, after I left school I was never short of ambitions, sadly I never had them when they might have done me most good.

The trouble with my later ambitions was that they took over my life, I had a blinkered vision and the latest desire took over my being.

Some say that we should not have ambition, they only lead to the passions of greed and lust and then bring on unhappiness.

I can fully understand where these people are coming from and how they are thinking but I cannot fully agree with them. There can be nothing wrong with have individual interests and a desire to learn certain things and reach certain goals.

If this does not cause harm to others and does not lead to a neglect of the needs of others they should be pursued rather than suppressed. 

Many a person is held back from fulfilling lives desires by parents and elders. Sometimes to protect the person from being harmed by failure. My mother used to frequently say to me to know my place and not fill my head with useless ideas. 

In his book Facing Loneliness, J. Oswald Sanders writes, "The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth is but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache. A millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience." 

Sanders goes on to emphasize that being successful often fails to produce satisfaction.  He then goes on to give some examples of ambitious people who have failed and ended up chasing shadows.

After 74 years I am still of the opinion that whatever you want to do do it to the fullest. 

There are one or two provisions.

First, you must remember that nothing is forever. How often I have chased an ambition only to prove that once I got there it was no longer really important to me.

Second, you should not allow ambitions to determine your life. It is far too easy to lose sight of humanity and caring concern for those around you.

Finally, you should always remember that ambition should always lead to the eradication of fears and bring a sense of calm and peace. 

Chase ambition with these things in mind and you will discover the path to a fulfilled experience. 

Have a marvellous day.