(Look for this week’s #ThursdayThoughtfulness questions after the jump.)
This Week’s Questions: What are some of your highest aspirations? Do you sometimes fear that they might be out of reach? Or do you keep moving forward without questioning their attainability? What other thoughts do you have in response to this quote by Louisa May Alcott?
Follow #ThursdayThoughtfulness at the blog on select Thursdays. Feel free to spread the thoughtfulness by reblogging this post, writing your own post on this topic, or sharing the quote image on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Sara Letourneau 
It’s snowing in the sunshine!
But, seriously, aspirations? Happiness, the usual biggie, as hard to define as to attain. Steps include successful publication of my WIP, and I won’t define success either! More friendship and socialization (I’m slightly reclusive at the moment, winter being a great excuse for that!). Good health, long life, the usuals. Encouraging others more, and thereby encouraging myself.
And yes, I do fear failing to attain such things. And I have to be careful of my inner critic adding impossible demands to the list. In fact, being happy right here and now for no particular reason might be my greatest aspiration, and I would not be alone in that.
I’ll leave it there and look forward to others’ comments. Thanks, Sara and the late Louisa!
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Those are fantastic aspirations, John. I love how some are career / writing oriented and others are geared more toward self-fulfillment. (Though the writing-oriented ones would count toward self-fulfillment, too!)
And like I said to Sarah, I think it’s human to be afraid of failing to reach our aspirations. But like you said, and as Alcott implied, finding happiness in the here and now – the pursuit of those aspirations – is a beautiful thing. Life is a journey, not a destination, right? 🙂
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Oh I know my aspirations, alright – and yes, I do wonder about their feasibility. Particularly at 3 am in the morning when staring up at the ceiling and listening to my husband’s sleep-mask hissing in the gloom… However, I also try to leaven them with other calls on my time. And now, all the groundwork and effort is beginning to pay off, I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other… A lovely quote and a timely reminder that we should keep checking to ensure we are not driving ourselves into a cul-de-sac. Thank you Sara:)
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I think we all have that worry about our aspirations: Will we reach them, after all the hard work we put in? But that’s exactly what Alcott says, isn’t it? The desire to have them come true, and the belief that we have that chance, is enough to motivate us to keep trying. And IMO, Sarah, you are more than on your way. Two books out in the world, and two more to go! Netted is due out in 2018 or 2019, right? And when does the final Sunblinded book come out?
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I’m hoping to bring out Breathing Space in early summer, but it needs more work than the other two to make it publishable. And Netted is due out in 2019. I’m also hoping to bring out a fantasy novella and the first book in a new trilogy…
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Ooo I really like this quote. I often have to shove back fear of impossible attainability for my dreams, but I try to keep my faith that they will come true. I have a lot of life left. I can still make them happen and I’m actively trying. ^ ^
storitorigrace.blogspot.com
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I love this quote. The idea of aspirations as sunshine feels really peaceful. I think that’s the point of aspirations, they always feel just a little out of reach. We strive for them to give us something to work for. I find that my aspirations grow as I do. They are always changing, and getting larger as I achieve small goals. Maybe this is just my way though.
Hope you have a good Christmas. 🙂
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This one resonates with me, mostly because it’s a reflection of my own thoughts and approach. Sure, it’d be nice to achieve some of my goals, but to focus only on that means missing the journey toward them, and the journey itself can be more than rewarding.
Also, a goal that is far means I can strive to do better every day, I have something to aim for. A goal achieved is something done and closed.
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