'A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?' Robert Browning's insight has always touched my heart. Ah, heaven within reach, with effort and faith. Heaven of course, being anything that we aspire to. That state of being that gives us peace and security. Or rather more of it. Something better than what you already have.
But, today, I look at it differently. The heaven we seek may seriously always be outside our reach. By definition, it probably is something we cannot get to. Unless striving for it is a joyful pursuit, maybe enjoying what is already yours is much more worthwhile.
Ambition is always marketed as a positive attitude. It is not. The nobility of trying to do better, to be better, applies only to those whose circumstances are strained, who need to break out of shackles of injustice, oppression, or poverty.
The one surety of life is that it ends. What is of paramount importance is that we live it in the now, with whatever it is that we have or don't. Moving ahead is great, but not at the cost of losing out on enjoying the present. Don't miss out on the joy of a cup of tea because you're waiting for the right biscuits (this weird example because I have done that).
Sometimes living in the present itself is act of faith, of gratitude. Definitely of strength. Our effort is always for the day; so should our reward be, and so should our focus.
We may exceed our grasp tomorrow, and find heaven for that day - only when it becomes our present. But it's so much more sensible to not try to reach for that unpromised future at the cost of the contentment today. There may be heaven already within our grasp.
