Reach For Hearts

30 Apr

“The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”
~ Maya Angelou

There are some things that I generally do not talk about from my life because they were not a lot of fun or brought me a lot of pain.  One of those things was childhood sports.  I am sure that my parents had the best intention in mind and wanted me to reach for the stars; however, I am not a baseball player.  Nor am I a football player.  I was not even much of a swimmer, preferring to frolic like a dolphin rather than swim competitively.  I enjoy music and bike riding.

So many people reach for the stars.  They want nothing more than to excel.  They want to be the best athlete, the best academic, the best employee, the best, the best, the best.  They often want it so bad that they can taste it.  They often want it so bad that they will run over other people to achieve the heights of whatever it is they do.

That is the definition of ambition.  Now, I am not trying to say that ambition is necessarily bad.  If it were not for ambition, we would not have as many inventions as we have had.  We would have lackluster entertainment.  We would have little reason to excel.  The problem is not with ambition as much as it is with ambition without taking into account the other person.  Our desire for the stars has to be kept in check so that we do not allow it to hurt others.

When reaching out, we should be concerned with reaching hearts.  All the medals, all the degrees, all the certificates, all the patents, all the Oscars, all the whatever will not guarantee a meaningful relationship with another.  What will guarantee that relationship is a keen eye on the other, a knowledge of what the other person likes, of what the other person thinks.  We need to let others know that they are important to us.

There are too many times that people get the feeling that they are second fiddle to everything else in the world.  I think every time someone gets that message from another, Jesus must shake His head and frown, sad for the hurt feelings of His loved one.  Material good and material gain should never be more important than a person.

If you want to reach for the stars, go ahead and reach.  Just make sure that you do not do it at the cost of another person.

FAITH ACTION:  Touch someone’s life today in a respectful and loving manner, letting them know that you not only recognize their existence but that you cherish them.