Aspiration to Ambition to Actualization

Each of us have aspired to be something, kept that as a focus, and hence an ambition to achieve that aspiration. In the end, some achieve what they aspired for, thus fulfilling their ambition, and make it a reality (actualization), while for some it tends to be a dream and stays like that. Call it adapting to the emerging circumstances, or settling down for something that they did not want to pursue.

A potter, cobbler, goldsmith, priest, scientist, doctor, engineer, lawyer, accountant, etc, feel great on having achieved some amount of name, fame and glory in their respective professions, but never consider themselves complete until they have successfully convinced the child to pursue their profession. They feel it is like some tangible property that they will be able to transfer to their ward, thus providing a head start over the others. The intention is noble and appreciable as long as the ward wants to pursue your desire.

How many of us have really pursued what we aspired for, and really set out achieving that in a conscious manner? Some of us have had the guts to stand up to it and clearly flow against the current, and follow your passion, by being proactive about what you have wanted to pursue, while a lot of us decided to flow with the current and submit ourselves to the emerging scheme of things by being reactive.

What was relevant yesterday, may not have stood the test of time, and hence would have given way to emerging career opportunities. Just a brief look at possibilities would illustrate the perceptions of the generation gap.

After traditional education, obviously the plum professions that most have wanted to follow were Medical Doctor and Engineer, followed by Chartered Accountants, Lawyers. These are like goldmark of careers, and those who are able to pursue such careers are perceived to be “winners” in life, whatever be their interest.

Business was the domain of the rich, and hence was decided more by legacy and inheritance, rather than ability and choice. So whatever the shape of the peg, it has been forefully fitted into whatever kind of hole that existed. If one was lucky, then square peg went into a square hole, or a round peg into a round hole, otherwise think of the other possibility, and that is where one witnesses the Aspiration to Ambition to Actualization process.

As children, perhaps the first few toys shape our aspirations – like most of us want to be a driver, because we have a car or a bus as a toy, and some aspire to be pilots because they get fascinated by toy plane. Some want to be a doctor, because they like the doctors set and love to flaunt the plastic stethoscope in their ears, and wield the toy injection syringe. We get shaped by the environment. Family background plays a great role in influencing a persons ambitions, but a big gap arises when one gets to achieving the state of actualization.

Times are changing, as newer choices emerge, and it becomes important to keep pace with change. If people are allowed to follow their passion, each one of us would have felt some meaning to our lives. But then most of us have been foisted with a choice as an ambition and force fitted as actualization. Yet when it is our turn, you too get into the process of foisting someone’s aspiration with your desire or vision.

We tend to decide someone's choice of profession, but in the bargain, are we professional in our approach. Whaere's the decision coming from? The Head or the Heart!