The Burden of Ambition

Yes. This always led me to sabotage the greatness I was growing into in the past.

Even though I didn't recognize it, people in my life who wanted to see me improve pointed it out to me. I didn't want to see because I was afraid. Afraid of rising above the masses of mediocrity. I almost felt that it was too much, that why should I have such an opportunity to be so great? Everytime I started to do really great and climb the ladder towards something OUTSTANDING I would backslide and sabotage myself.

This is a terrible habit I need to break immediately. I may have a phenomenal job opportunity being presented to me, and I can feel this fear growing, a little voice in the back of my head whispering, "Do you really think you're worthy?" "What if they laugh at you?" I suppose social anxiety and self esteem play into it too. I'm a self-critical semi-perfectionist.

 

This is a common thing, but have you ever noticed people that don't even have a higher image of them selves, at least you have that, but in the end it's yourself that has to get out of the way of your progress and I think the reason why we sabotage ourselves is because it's a familar teritory, and I think the question needs to be asked do I really know how to be happy, not what makes me happy but do I feel worthy of simple happiness. And is this idea of happieness just another ilusion of a goal in the future or is it a way of life towards something that I have set for my self.

 

Unfortunately yes, especially as a borderline perfectionist T.T I feel like me failing to achieve my goals would just be testament of not giving the full potential effort that I could have given. It's even worse since I chose one of the hardest majors (I'm a college student) out there and I expect nothing but greatness from myself.

I feel like it's good to have ambition though. Gives you a sense of self confidence, of a goal that so many of us in our generation don't know what they are. For me, it just gives me the drive to keep moving forward, even in my less than stellar days..

 

Surely our spiritual aspirations are the highest and purest we can have. But we shouldn't feel overwhelmed by them as we are under the power and blessing of God Himself.

 

Every moment of wisdom is an accomplishment since I am existence. The past and future never happen.


All that exists exists and nothing does not exist. Therefore, the time is now.

 

I agree. Every experience changes you, and therefore it changes your destiny. A wise man once said "Ethos Anthropos Daymon" "Character is Fate".
But still, only what exists exists, therefore now.

Happiness is peace, happiness is absence of pain. Nature is pain, happiness lies in the negation of nature.
Therefore nofap.

What we all need is to chill the f+++ out in a way that's not boring. lol.

 

The answer is always somewhere between, since no things are absolute.

Here are two interesting articles which deal with the subject of fate:

http://www.petermalakoff.com/character_and_fate.html

http://www.petermalakoff.com/tragedy.html

 

A great life is a hard life

 

Good thread. But any concrete examples? What are your goals? I would like to be a good Christian, a good father and excellent in my work. I guess many people would consider me successful but I constantly feel self-doubts.

 

I also feel like you, in a sense that I am confident that if I put myself into anything, I can do it.

What worked for a few months was putting the things I want to do in time blocks. That way A, B, C gets all done, or at least one is satisfied with giving it a shot.

I still struggle with this. Best of luck with your ambitions MelancholyWeightLifter!

 

Aquinas would say that grace builds on nature. Here, I think that would mean that the grace (power) is God's, but the action (the act of the will, the choice) is yours.