as hard as you can

The most important attribute is the same as it always has been: an unswerving dedication to pushing as hard as you can in your chosen direction.

— Fred Baldwin, photographer, as quoted by Kelly Caminero at The Daily Beast


Commentary:

Passion towards an end, with the backing wind of attempt after attempt. There is a limit to what any one individual can do but we often don’t put any dedication towards a goal; when it gets hard we bail out of the process, instead of bailing out the boat.

I wonder if anyone ashed the astronauts who visited the moon about their psychological journey and their doubts while they drifted past the Lagrange point. “This is ridiculous. I should have been a doctor.” Did they have doubts — maybe not at that point, but who knows?

Every goal has multiple exits, but only a few of them are the goal, the intention, the destination. The journey can be valuable and should be treasured and examined but the journey for journey’s sake lacks purpose.

Hmm, I feel like I need to research more about purpose, motivation, and boredom.