Sorry, I conflated the two things, 'ambition' isn't directly connected with the comparison. But it is connected with a striving to be better (in some way) than one is at the present, and that is often inspired by what other people do or have (if everyone lived in a mud shack would people aspire to a brick house?). Not "Fred has one so I want one" to be equal ("Keeping up with the Joneses", which I think we both find foreign to our thinking) but "Fred plays bagpipes, I'd like to play the pipes a well". Whereas I don't even have that sort of envy most of the time.
Yes, I do see you as ambitious, for yourself and others, you have a drive that I don't have. Having a house, yes, that is a goodness (it gets damp out in a field, and that's not good for books), but for me it's just a place for living and putting stuff (OK, especially putting stuff!). Just as for me a car is a means of transportation and I only want it to do what I need. My requirements are just a lot lower than yours, I think, and partly that's because it's "just me" and not a family but I think we do have different levels of drive. From what you say you seem to have the "work ethic" that you need to be working all the time (or feel that you should), whereas I have the "beachbum ethic" where work is a (sometimes necessary) evil.
(I resent any time spent shopping, my ideal would be to walk in, get the thing I want and walk out. Or preferably have it appear where I need it without me even thinking about it -- internet shopping has almost that level of non-work, but unfortunately has a lot of delay before the thing appears...)
I'm not frightened of the future, I just accept that it will likely be worse than the present. That way if it turns out to be about the same as the present I'll be pleasantly surprised. I don't have any dreams left which are likely to be even possible, let alone probable, whatever I do, with the exception of some very localised ones (there are some pieces of music I would like to arrange and perform, for instance, some books I'd like to read and films I'd like to see, some software I'd like to write or finish, but no grand goals). I'd still like to go out into space, but that dream was killed off several decades ago for my generation (yes, there are a few commercial ideas but none of them will be viable for 'elderly' people in time).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-01-26 10:34 pm (UTC)Yes, I do see you as ambitious, for yourself and others, you have a drive that I don't have. Having a house, yes, that is a goodness (it gets damp out in a field, and that's not good for books), but for me it's just a place for living and putting stuff (OK, especially putting stuff!). Just as for me a car is a means of transportation and I only want it to do what I need. My requirements are just a lot lower than yours, I think, and partly that's because it's "just me" and not a family but I think we do have different levels of drive. From what you say you seem to have the "work ethic" that you need to be working all the time (or feel that you should), whereas I have the "beachbum ethic" where work is a (sometimes necessary) evil.
(I resent any time spent shopping, my ideal would be to walk in, get the thing I want and walk out. Or preferably have it appear where I need it without me even thinking about it -- internet shopping has almost that level of non-work, but unfortunately has a lot of delay before the thing appears...)
I'm not frightened of the future, I just accept that it will likely be worse than the present. That way if it turns out to be about the same as the present I'll be pleasantly surprised. I don't have any dreams left which are likely to be even possible, let alone probable, whatever I do, with the exception of some very localised ones (there are some pieces of music I would like to arrange and perform, for instance, some books I'd like to read and films I'd like to see, some software I'd like to write or finish, but no grand goals). I'd still like to go out into space, but that dream was killed off several decades ago for my generation (yes, there are a few commercial ideas but none of them will be viable for 'elderly' people in time).