Ambition

I have completed some of my chores for today and am sitting in the conservatory, with a cup of tea, looking across the wide lawn, wondering how one could engineer a lawn-mower to be operated safely and effectively by remote control. As I take another sip from the steaming cup, something black and white just over the wooden fence not 50 metres away, catches my eye. But then it disappears from view.

My curiosity dictated that I keep staring at the place in question. Then, a repeat performance. Black and white up momentarily, then seconds, nay, rather more like milli-seconds later, it was down and gone. Jako the Goat, you cunning old soul, standing up on your hind legs, and then showing off that cute bunny-hop! He was reaching up higher than he’d ever achieved before. He was trying (and succeeding) to get leaves from higher up in one of trees on Goat-Hill. I watched him do a repeat performance, half a dozen times, or so. Hmmm…

(Above): The leaves on this tree are being stripped systematically from the bottom.

If people have had a lot to say about a particular word, then one such word must surely be ambition. For, where would civilisation, nay the world itself, be if people had not had ambitions? Before someone shouts me down with “It would have been a peaceful better place”, let me explain.

I am not a philosopher, and I’m looking at it simplistically, because simplistically is how I see and do things. I write this blog most unprofessionally, without a plan or a layout, without an introduction, a body or a conclusion. Sometimes words are accidentally omitted and frequently the letter “c” because my keyboard is c-deficient, rather c-impaired. That’s me an idea, maybe good maybe not, jot down the words and leave the rest to spell-checker. No revision, no editing, simply simple.

Back to the quotes. Some I find interesting include.

“I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night — there must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest.”  [Marilyn Monroe]

“Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine. Ain't nowhere else in the world where you can go from driving a truck to Cadillac overnight” [Elvis Presley]

“You will never know how high you can climb until you reach the top.” [K.L. Toth?]

“Everyday that I procrastinate, everyday that I sit stagnant in fear, everyday that I fail to better myself, someone else out there with the same goals and dreams as me is doing the exact opposite.” [Noel DeJesus]

“As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too.” [Johnny Depp]

“It's never too late to be what you might have been.” [George Eliot]

“I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.” [Angus Grossart]

Hmmm.

And, do you know what? I’ve been to look at those branches which Jacko has been trying to reach, and he clearly has been munching and munching to his heart’s content. He has achieved this by believing that he can reach the upper leaves, even though they are a bit above his station. By standing a bit higher up the slope and hopping forward, he has been able to grab a mouthful with each bound. Who would have believed that a goat could be ambitious?

(Above): Jacko in his familiar“ambitious” pose, looking outward and upward for juicy rewards. Achievements spurred on by ambition. And we thought goats were only good for walking over bridges “trip, trap, trip, trap…”