“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometimes I wonder if it’s part of the human condition to want to do something but not do it. I definitely think we are all yearning for something, whether or not we’re willing to admit it.
I love this Emerson quote because, each time I read it, it never fails to light a fire under my ass. It reminds me that I want something, and if I ever expect to get it, I have to work for it. I have to take it. And, whatever I’m feeling about it, whether it’s anger, or fear, or sadness, I have to channel that energy and use it to my advantage.
So, this is your reminder to heed whatever it is that’s written on your heart.
If you are ignoring it, pretending it isn’t there, stop it.
If it has been so long since you’ve thought about it that you have forgotten, ask yourself. What is my true heart’s desire?
What is it you want to do that you’re not doing?
Glossary of Feelings entry XVI
Lonely (adjective)
a: being without company : LONE
b: cut off from others : SOLITARY
not frequented by human beings : DESOLATE
sad from being alone : LONESOME
producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation
This Week in History
April 21, 1816 – English novelist Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre), was born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, England.
April 22, 1509 – Henry VIII, second Tudor king of England, ascended to the throne at age 17, after the death of his father, Henry VII.
April 23, 1635 – The oldest public institution in the United States, Boston Latin School, was founded.
April 24, 1184 BCE – The Greeks entered Troy using the Trojan Horse.
April 25, 1644 – The last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen, committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree on Jing Mountain, Beijing, to avoid capture by forces of Li Zicheng.
April 26, 1514 – Copernicus made his first observations of Saturn.
April 27, 1882 – American essayist and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson died of pneumonia at age 78.
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What I’m Reading
Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy
The Atlantic
What I’m Watching
Shogun on Hulu
What I’m Listening To
Prologue, The Milk Carton Kids
Let It Be, The Beatles
Journaling Prompt for the Week #17 of 2024
Write about what is written on your heart. What is the thing you ache to do but you are not doing?
Thanks for reading. Have a great week.