Ambition

Is common to us all. Like money, it is never enough and like a mountain, it always tends to look farther away once we think we are one step closer to it. We get consumed by the notion of our ambitions/goals to such an extent that we forget the here and now completely, all in the expectation of a brighter someday. Dreams, however, can play an important part in helping us get by some of our boring todays.

It’s tricky though; the ambition and the priced success can make us neglect everything around in the eternal struggle for achieving that one goal. Affecting us like a virus, it can give rise to obsessive behavior or drive us closer to hedonism and far from empathy and compassion, so much so, that we forget what it is to be ourselves. We suppress and divert desires/motives in order to keep our focus towards that one goal. We are so deluded by our thoughts that we never stop to introspect ourselves or question our actions.

(The word itself stems from Latin word Ambitionem which literally means going around looking for glory, thirst for popularity, eager or inordinate desire for honor or preferment.)

Sure ambition drives us all. It’s like worshipping the bitch goddess, which promises sweet returns. We define success by how capable we are of achieving those goals. Neurologically, success is our ability to focus on a task with persistence. The limbic system (LS) drives this behaviour. The dominant role of the LS (the basic emotion processing headquater in the brain) is a well-known fact. It overpowers other parts of our brain (like the anterior insular cortex which processes empathy and compassion). This can leads us to behave like rabbits, running towards a carrot and not caring for anything else around. Or like a hamster on a spinning wheel. It seems the LS provides the fuel required to run this engine of ambition.

A predominant question that arises is to what extent the fruits of this narrow-vision marathon race worth? How does it matter that even after all this effort you did earn a million dollars but had no one to share your dinner with or that you were so consumed in the race for becoming a CEO that you failed to make it to you best friend’s wedding, your parent’s anniversary and other social and personal gatherings.

The point is, that it does not matter what goals you have unless you decide what path you will take to achieve them. Even if you lose one dream, it does not mean the end of life. Brain’s elasticity is enough to change or even dream a new dream. Ambitions/goals are not carved in stone! Dreams can change; so don’t get fixated by your dreams to such an extent that they become an obsession, failing you to experience the life beyond it.

Finally, remember that it is the journey that counts and not the destination. What will matter more is how many people are there with you to celebrate when you make it to the top of that mountain and not the mere fact that you did it.

Even if you fail to climb a mountain, there is a chance that you could move them! And in the end, you might not get what you want, but you will get what you need.

Stay curious and stay empathetic.

Jatin