This resonated so deeply with me. I'm in a stage less of letting ambitions go and more about allowing them to be paused intentionally. I'm giving my body time to recalibrate to my new circumstances, and the voice in the back of my head has been telling me for a long time that I need a period of status quo as opposed to ambition in order to regain energy, excitement and verve. Similar to what you're saying about following enthusiasm, but in order for me to get back to enthusiasm and ambition, my current ambition is rest and recuperation. So maybe it's no on pause... it's just a different ambition. Who's to say!?
I love this and I think it points to one of the many misunderstandings we have about ambition (evidenced by my long list of things I’ve wanted to do).
Ambition can be broader than just work or achievement oriented pursuits. I can be ambitious about building a strong relationship with my kids. You can be ambitious about having a season of rest and rejuvenation.
I think we do ourselves a disservice by believing that if we’re not actively pursuing a gold star, then we’re not being ambitious. Says who?! Lol.
Thanks for sharing. I think I might take a page from your book and get ambitious about getting more sleep. 💤
Thank you for writing about this so well. When I take the time to reflect, I often try and distinguish between an ambition, an idea, and a dream. Maybe there’s no difference, but each one feels sticky in a different way to me and it’s in examining the stickiness that I sometimes see the different ‘pulls’; curiosity, excitement, competitiveness, ego, or purpose. It’s amazing though how some have a permanent pull isn’t it?
Hmm that’s so interesting. I’m sure we could parse out the difference between the three and maybe I’m using the term ‘ambition’ more broadly than I should? But agree wholeheartedly around the idea that some seem to have permanent pulls. Hard to let go of some, no matter how much we may want to. :)
It's interesting to think about ambitions that weren't fulfilled but the desire gets stirred again later in life and it pulls you in a certain direction. Lots of people on Substack feel that way about writing on here, which is what I think makes it so fun at the moment.
A few years ago I feel like I mentally replaced the word "ambition" for "imagination" because I felt like most of my ambitions were usually based on what other people were doing and achieving. And using the idea of imagining what I wanted life to feel like and what I was doing to feel that way had more of an internal & external compass. (There's also the whole ambitious being a dirty word for a woman thing - but this really was more of an internal pull.)
And so many times we forget about imagination--there's serendipity in that as well as hard work.
This resonated so deeply with me. I'm in a stage less of letting ambitions go and more about allowing them to be paused intentionally. I'm giving my body time to recalibrate to my new circumstances, and the voice in the back of my head has been telling me for a long time that I need a period of status quo as opposed to ambition in order to regain energy, excitement and verve. Similar to what you're saying about following enthusiasm, but in order for me to get back to enthusiasm and ambition, my current ambition is rest and recuperation. So maybe it's no on pause... it's just a different ambition. Who's to say!?
I love this and I think it points to one of the many misunderstandings we have about ambition (evidenced by my long list of things I’ve wanted to do).
Ambition can be broader than just work or achievement oriented pursuits. I can be ambitious about building a strong relationship with my kids. You can be ambitious about having a season of rest and rejuvenation.
I think we do ourselves a disservice by believing that if we’re not actively pursuing a gold star, then we’re not being ambitious. Says who?! Lol.
Thanks for sharing. I think I might take a page from your book and get ambitious about getting more sleep. 💤
Thank you for writing about this so well. When I take the time to reflect, I often try and distinguish between an ambition, an idea, and a dream. Maybe there’s no difference, but each one feels sticky in a different way to me and it’s in examining the stickiness that I sometimes see the different ‘pulls’; curiosity, excitement, competitiveness, ego, or purpose. It’s amazing though how some have a permanent pull isn’t it?
Hmm that’s so interesting. I’m sure we could parse out the difference between the three and maybe I’m using the term ‘ambition’ more broadly than I should? But agree wholeheartedly around the idea that some seem to have permanent pulls. Hard to let go of some, no matter how much we may want to. :)
It's interesting to think about ambitions that weren't fulfilled but the desire gets stirred again later in life and it pulls you in a certain direction. Lots of people on Substack feel that way about writing on here, which is what I think makes it so fun at the moment.
A few years ago I feel like I mentally replaced the word "ambition" for "imagination" because I felt like most of my ambitions were usually based on what other people were doing and achieving. And using the idea of imagining what I wanted life to feel like and what I was doing to feel that way had more of an internal & external compass. (There's also the whole ambitious being a dirty word for a woman thing - but this really was more of an internal pull.)
And so many times we forget about imagination--there's serendipity in that as well as hard work.
Thanks for reminding me of that.