Is being ambitious the key to happiness?

There are a few topics which I would like to write and share but I think this one is somewhat important to set the pace.

This morning when I woke up I read Timothy Tiah's blog. Timothy is the co-founder of Nuffnang and Churp Churp. He just turned 30 years old a couple days ago. My point in mentioning his age is not to point out that he's getting older but that at the age of 30 he is already living a rather comfortable life in terms of wealth. 

In the blog post I read titled A Conversation with my mother, Timothy had a conversation with his mom about being ambitious and wanting to chase the billion dollar buck which would usually catch my attention but it was this sentence that his mom said that really caught my attention. 

Why do we have to always be ambitious? Why can’t we just be happy?

The beauty of this sentence lies in its honesty. We often read in books and articles that we should dream big and never put a limit to our ambitions. While this may work for some individuals, it may not gel well with the rest of the world which are the majority. Imagine if everyone is just chasing success,wealth or wanting to be the best, what would the world become? A zombie land?

Back to my point, how often do we get people telling us that whatever we have now is enough for us to be happy? Greed is slowly turning us humans to robots. Robots with no emotions to be exact. And that's where the happiness lies, our emotions.

In this generation and age especially when it is easier to access information, it is also easier for us to lose ourselves in all the wealth and success we see. We get so engrossed in our delusions that we forget to stop, pause and reflect on the beauty of life we already have. Our family, our friends, the luxuries we already have and the beautiful environment surrounding us which we might destroy if continue to work through our limitless ambitions.

The point here is really simple if we are all willing to take a moment to reflect. While we all want to live a meaningful life and have all that we wish for, having more or wanting more does not guarantee happiness. As ironic as it sounds, happiness comes from within. Happiness is a choice whether and when we are rich, poor, healthy or ill.

It is not wrong for us to chase our dreams/ambitions. But in the process of that we should not forget and forgo the happiness we already have right now.

Wonderful how a simple sentence like that can have so much wisdom huh? Thank you Timothy for sharing this inspiring conversation you had with your mom!