Having an Ambition limits you from exploring Infinite Possibilities!

P.S- This article ain't motivational stuff, even though the image strongly implies so! It's insanely logical, so you can go ahead...

We are living in a world that encourages youth to be ferociously ambitious. If we talk in terms of the Generation-Z, ambition is considered as the ultimate prerequisite for a preordained & definite success. I've heard my teachers, my parents, my friends say the same thing: if you haven't got a goal set in your mind, you can't succeed in life. I outrightly refuse to believe this.

You are talking about ''infinite", so you gotta have a picture with stars.

What is ambition anyway? To put it in layman terms, it's simply a thought that is a product of the human mind, to which one decides to give a certain significance, above all other aspects of one's life. And when it turns gradually into your life goal, you endue all your energy into it, to such an extent that it begins to rule your existence! But but, it certainly didn't happen to me. Not yet. I'm still meddling with my thoughts, trying to find my own ambition (even though my study diverges into a diverse variety of fields- CSE that is!) 


Are these ambitions that you're working your ass off for really your own? Well it depends. Although these ambitions seem to be our own, they often aren't. Likewise, I study CSE, and almost 80% of the students I've come to observe in our university are not there by choice or because they love Computer Science but because they got inclined towards the so-called trend. Gone are the days when we used to talk about Passion. Actually, our behavior and actions are not a result of what we actually want to do but are molded by the fear of how they will be interpreted by the society. Like if you're dreaming of becoming a famous Fashion Designer in a society that fancies a Computer Science Engineer more than a Fashion Designer any day, there are 99.99% chances that you'll end up sitting in a CS class. The rest 0.01% become Manish Malhotra.

Actually there are two aspects of an ambition: There's the realistic aspect, that's largely based on facts & societal norms, and then there is the spiritual aspect, that is influenced by personal feelings or beliefs. Let's try to explore both of them.

Right from kindergarten, parents and teachers start encouraging children to become 'Number One' at whatever they do. This 'Number One' mania is not easy to outgrow. It's not enough for people to be rich & beautiful. Everyone wants to be the richest, or the most beautiful. Everyone wants to be on top of the world. Human beings naturally strive to be better. There is no escaping this number game!

Is ambition right or wrong? It is neither: it is just limited, because it is merely an expansion of what you already know. Nothing new or unique will happen to you if you have already fixed your goal, until the day you achieve that goal, in which case you'll set a new ambition for yourself. Fixing your ambition means you will rest content with small victories. You may think you are swift, but you're simply walking faster than everybody else. This happens to majority of the people: they are doing a li'l better than everybody and they think they're doing great. And yet, the tragedy is that the moment you fix your goal, you've limited yourself. You've hampered the possible blossoming of human genius..."No, No...", you might argue, "my ambitions are lofty!" But that would be presumptuous of you to say. You have still constrained yourself because when you set your goal, you are operating on the basis of your imagination, which is just an extension of your memory. 

But my darling, your life holds possibilities that are way beyond your imaginations, beyond your wildest dreams!

So if setting an ambition is that bad, how do I propel myself to success without fixing my goal?
Hold your senses, because I wanna go spiritual here. "Ewww...Spiritualism?", you'll imply, "You're seriously talking about Spiritualism in 21st century? So boring." Well, I know, things tend to work more on logic in this era but the best life advises can only come from Spiritualism. Remember, NOT EVERYTHING is Science. So what I was saying is, if your spiritual self has got a profound sense of involvement without intention in your ambition, you can transcend the stereotypes of a conventional culture to achieve even more than what you desire. But involvement takes energy. How does one generate energy without a goal?  Hence they always emphasize on "devotion" in every spiritual tradition. The fire of devotion burns all calculation. What is left is an unwavering, dispassionate focus on the process, without any prior expectations or calculations.

If new possibilities need to happen in your life, and above all, if human genius has to unfold, it is important that we create not an ambitious world, but a joyful and involved one. If you are joyfully and ecstatically involved in whatever you do, depending upon your capacities, you will go further than you can possibly imagine. Now, I agree there are some unique minds like Steve Jobs, who, without realizing consciously, develop the unconscious goal of proving to the world that they are extremely significant. And then there is Alexander The Great, considered the world's most ambitious human being, who depicts a surprisingly limited ambition. He just wants to conquer one planet- one tiny speck in this great cosmos. That desire he thinks is BIG: for that he kills, for that he dies. What a profound tragedy!

If only you were able to achieve your goal in future, what a naturally impoverished and exhausting life it could be. On the other hand, if you keep yourself at a 'spiritual high', on full throttle, without any ambition, who knows where you might end up. You will go to places you never dreamt possible. So, do not limit yourself with a fixed ambition, because being human is a limitless possibility; an inexhaustible, unwavering discovery. Your life is about exploring that limitlessness, transcending those horizons...

Thank You! :)

Arshpreet Singh.