March 2024

March Thought of the Month

"Do not spend the best part of your life pursuing small ambitions."

~ Joseph Prince

I grew up in a city and will always remember the first time I saw a night sky beyond the reach of artificial lights. Thousands upon thousands of stars surround our planet and until that moment I'd had no idea they existed. Possibilities are like those stars. If you're in the wrong environment, you can't see them. And if you don't know they're there, it is impossible to make them realities.

The equivalent of too much artificial light would be anything that hinders us from the goals we set ourselves: lack of opportunity or resources, limited education, a negative mindset, apathy. The list is practically endless, which is why some people never move beyond the box that society does its best to put them in.

Thankfully, we all know stories of individuals who escaped the limits others built around them to find success and gift the world with the results of their innovations. But as restrictions and barriers to achievement continue to spread, these examples will grow fewer in number with each generation.

No one was born to be mediocre, yet generations have been told the exact opposite. When I was in school, we were graded on a curve. A small percentage of students were expected to get A's, the majority were expected to get C's. That never made sense to me. If followed strictly, it meant that a student who deserved an A would get a B because the class had reached its A quota.

Under those conditions, it's inevitable that the majority of students will never be encouraged to achieve their potential. This in turn restricts their ability to see what waits beyond the box assigned them in life. It cripples or kills the kind of ambition that a healthy society needs to thrive.

It's up to each of us to find ways out of the boxes built to keep us where others think we belong. We must find ways to build the longest ladders we can and escape, to reach for the brightest stars, to transform as many possibilities into realities as we can, and show others the way.

[Thought and image design by Elaine C. Oldham]