What happens when ambition fails….

This thought has been lurking somewhere in the folds of my brain for a few months now. The thought was triggered when I attended a get together a few months back, which consisted of individuals who were at various positions at their workplace, some heading divisions of large companies to others just starting out in their respective careers, to the in-betweens

The fact that I knew the personal background of many of them only helped to understand their possible state of mind better. There were some who had dreamt big and reached somewhere along the path, others who had reached the top where they always aspired to be and then had a steep fall, to possibly a point of no return. A few who will do anything, and by that I mean anything , dirty office politics, wily games , tarnishing reputations of others to reach the top , and still others waiting for the right opportunity on their own terms

And not to forget the small group who were happy where they were…let me go with the flow, the ones whom others thought had no ambition, so to say

And that got me thinking….what is going to happen to this motley group of people, (except maybe the last group) if their ambition fails….

Will they keep trying till the very end, to reach their goal, and never tire? Even if they do reach the point that they always wanted to attain, will it only be a brief stopover for the next step, never to be satisfied with what they have attained

Will the people who have gone to any lengths to attain what they always wanted to, be able to justify themselves?

Are those who have had a steep fall for reasons of their own or circumstances beyond their control, be so disheartened that they will never try again? Is their spark in life lost?

Lots of questions and no answers…

And that makes me do what I generally do as a starting point, google J. If you google the meaning of ambition, one of the links is to the Webster dictionary which defines three aspects or related words to ambition; AMBITION, ASPIRATION and PRETENSION.

As per Websters , ambition applies to the desire for personal advancement or preferment and may suggest equally a praiseworthy or an inordinate desire . aspiration implies a striving after something higher than oneself and usually implies that the striver is thereby ennobled . pretension suggests ardent desire for recognition of accomplishment often without actual possession of the necessary ability and therefore may imply presumption and audacity

I guess there lies a bit of the answer, what is it that we have in us , ambition , aspiration or just plain pretension. The day we sit back and answer this question truthfully to our self, we will be able to take a better stock of things within our control and work towards a better tomorrow for none other than ourselves