"Dear Ambition"

Dear Ambition,

What can I tell you that you haven't repeatedly drilled into my brain a thousand times? Let's start with thank you. Thank you for being the reason I can see my future right before my eyes.  Thank you for getting me out of bed in the mornings when I dreaded school.  It was behind worth holding that diploma in my hands. Thank you for giving me the determination to persevere. Without you, the bullies and the demeaning coworkers surely would have won. It was you who held my chin up and dried my tears when my depression wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and never rise again.  There were times I felt isolated, and ultimately, I was.  It was this drive inside of me to keep going, and in the words of Dory "Keep swimming". You opened up my mind to all the possibilities waiting for me- if only I were eager enough to chase them. There were many nights where I was tired and simply did not care to finish the 5-page paper due that evening, but you were always in my heart whispering "Not yet". I can't give up yet, in fact, I may never give up.  I would not be a full-time student and full-time employee without your diligence. My ambition has given me the hope and strength to accomplish anything I set my mind to.  Some days, I lived off my own will and perhaps a few energy drinks along the way.  But it was you who reminded me that I wanted to change.  That I needed to become more than I was.  In order to receive the honor and respect I desired from those who believed me incapable, I had to strive for greatness.  I had to reach deep into my soul for something worth losing sleep over. Sleep is something I've always treasured, but it has never been able to stop my ambition.  Even when I returned home with tears in my eyes after being scolded at work or tortured at school, I lay my head down for the night relying on the sole promise that it would all be worth it one day.  Although I have not reached my true goal, I am one step closer every day.  Thanks to my ambition I was able to make that first step which has made me not only a determined worker but one who does not quit.  One who sees her mistakes and corrects it, rather than discrediting herself.  My ambition rises to any challenge set forth and laughs.  I now realize why my ambition laughed at all my petty fears of failure before. I was never doomed to fail.  My prosecutors were wrong.  I was doomed to whatever fate I made for myself, and my ambition has certainly cleared the path for righteous success.

Sincerely,

Your Fiercest Soldier