Domesticate the Vagabond

     People who achieve greatness and succeed in making their goals and dreams reality are often admired for their demonstrated determination while being scorned for their treatment of others and their disregard for social rules and laws. Obvious examples include the conquests of great generals like Cyrus, Alexander, Julius Ceasar, the Khans, and Saladin. These men took over large swathes of land and many peoples from a tiny center of power with innovative military techniques and tactics. The second most evident success stories of impassioned achievement are commercial. Rockefeller gradually absorbed all of the American oil industry from drilling to refining to selling and established an untouchable monopoly. John Pemberton, the inventor of Coca Cola, also achieved remarkable success of a simple product through excellent marketing. Henry Ford dominated the automotive industry, DuPont controlled engineering and chemistry, Carnegie consolidated steel and railroads, and modern innovators of the computer age like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zucherberg continue in those traditions.
     What makes these individuals stand apart from the competition and achieve their goals despite opposition? Passion. Conviction. An internal belief and desire to do something purposeful with their lifelong dreams. Few people have dreams worth pursuing. Of the few that dream, fewer strive to achieve those ideas. Of the few that dream and strive, fewer succeed. That is why we remember them: their names and their deeds.

      In Dante's Inferno, Canto IV, " [In] the foremost circle that surrounds the abyss, there as it seemed to me from listening, were lamentations none, but only sighs, that tremble made the everlasting air. And this arose from sorrow without torment, which the crowds had, that many were and great, of infants and of women and of men." Taken slightly out of context, it is clear that a huge host of people suffered in the outermost circle of hell, Limbo, because they did not commit to anything during life. Because of their aimless life, they were punished to an aimless eternity.
     Most people live without focus or purpose. The poor are distracted by the needs of basic survival while the wealthy are distracted by worthless trinkets. If humanity is to overcome the challenges, fears, and antagonism that it suffers from now, we must collectively put aside the baggage of localized pettiness and place our efforts toward what we hope to accomplish.


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Agatha Tyche