NOT AMBITION, BUT LOW AIM IS A CRIME

It is said that when you aim for the stars, you reach the mountains; when you aim for the mountains, you reach the treetops; when you aim for the treetops, you remain on the ground. Every person is special, unique and gifted with different talents. We are all ambitious and determined to succeed in life by developing our talents to achieve our goals. Ambitions differ from person to person; one may want to become a doctor, another an engineer and another a journalist and so on.

The history of the world and mankind is a fascinating tale of numerous and diverse changes. The change that occurs for the benefit and development of mankind is termed as ‘progress’. Progress is a result of planning, preparation and perseverance. All these factors together constitute the word ‘ambition’.

It is very important to have goals. Having a goal in life will enable us to determine the direction in which we are moving, in order to achieve success. According to Dr. Robert H. Schuller, “Success is never ending and failure is never final”. Having a goal and working towards it always brings us rewards.

Without goals it is nearly impossible to discover our capabilities and achieve lasting success. Therefore, it is beneficial and necessary to have a goal. Though final results belong to a few, it is worth trying. Once we aim and achieve it, we should not be satisfied but keep on aiming higher, to reach greater heights.

It is said that success consists of dreams being turned into reality. In the year 1960, at Alabama, Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, the leader fighting for civil rights for the black people in the United States of America, titled his famous speech, “I Have A Dream”, in which he looked forward to the day when people, irrespective of colour, would walk together in equality and freedom in the United States of America. We should therefore fix our goals and work in that direction. Thus, it is not a crime to aim nor is it a shame if we aim and do not succeed. But it would rather bold and brave of us to aim.

‘Ambition’ actually means desire for power, fame an honour whereas ‘aim’ can be defined as an effort made in order to reach a particular goal or a target. These two words have different meanings. Over ambition is likely to lead to greed and selfishness.

Fulfilling an ambition is like making a dream come true. To make our dream come true, we should aim at excellence – giving our best efforts in whatever we do. Thus, we will obtain the result, which we have expected or even more. If we have a low aim, we will achieve less than our expectations or even fail in our endeavors. In order to convert our dreams into a reality, we should have an optimistic attitude and self-discipline.

Having an ambition and not working towards it, is foolish; but having a low aim and having high hopes of succeeding is definitely a crime. If we have a low aim, we are committing a crime. In order to prevent us from turning into ‘criminals’, we should always aim higher, think positively, and rationally; be confident of ourselves and in our capabilities.

Therefore, the proverb that “NOT AMBITION BUT LOW AIM IS A CRIME” is a reality.