to what we aspire...

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
Louisa May Alcott

what lies just beyond our grasp at this moment, draws ever closer with each process of thought and action... nothing is owed to us or guaranteed without our own investment and movement... we may seek our dreams for an entire lifetime, but this journey rewards us with the spoils of our pilgrimage towards that which we envision for ourselves... we may seek our dreams at the cost of all else but even in that decision, there is learning and wisdom to be gleaned... listen to your soul, learn to identify that which is heart based and beneficial for you to aspire to become... cast aside the glitter and the instant, instead reach for the gratification that is wrapped around any tough expedition, for the reward at the end of this kind of adventure, is unmeasurable...

always steadfastly allow what you know to be honest and true, to ring out loudest and shine brightest, for when you are tested, in these you will never doubt... when facing the fire, what is authentic and absolute will withstand the audit of the flames...

but, just as we need to learn to crawl before we can sprint, don't set your aspirations so high that you defeat yourself before the first step... don't forget that the footsteps climbing the mountain to the top are worth every bit as much as the view from the peak... each step in line with the one behind it, striding ever closer to your dreams, take the cut offs and the side roads to see what they hold... escape the linear path and bask in the experience and mysteries that unfold along the diverted road... for even backtracking from a dead end, presents a different view and new vistas...

in all of this, hold tight to your dreams... if they are authentic to who you are, they will remain unshakable, if they are not, they will be transformed by your journey into much more that you could have ever imagined at the outset... who you become by aspiring to be more than you have been, is a reward that nothing can overshadow... who you can become can never be taken away because it is who you are with every fiber, and should everything else fall away, you are still who you are, and that will always be undeniable...

aspire to be who it feels right to be, don't let your doubts cloud any possibilities for your journey towards yourself... many awaken feeling that as one life, we are unable to effect any significant change, but many more awaken to the knowledge that it takes just "one" life... just one idea, one moment, one dream, and from that one seed can grow a nation, a movement, an unceasing tide of difference...

listen to what your dreams tell you, listen to where they wish to guide you, listen to how they wish to hold you through all of life's moments... live them, breathe them and hold them as you would your beloved... let your aspirations be who you are, not what you think you should be, or what others impose on you...

for these are yours, your most devout desires woven through all that you are... these are your purpose, these are your intentions and the deed to your soul...