Desire is a mental energy. It is impossible to desire something you have not imagined or seen. So desire is comparing an image of something and the way it is, and that gap is what is called desire. Now, desire has this imagination element, that shows the object of desire, the finished “product” as if it were already there. And therein lies the mischief. The path from the present moment to the ready is long and arduous, unless it is as easy as making a cup of coffee… when you have coffee, water, and a coffee maker. But most things are not simple, and only happen over time. Here is an example: A few years ago I started to provide water for the birds. I live on the edge of a small wild woods… a few acres on the side of a hill that is too steep to build on. We have deer, skunks, racoon, badger, lots of squirrels, and a ton of birds. I have the water bath filled even in the winter, if I can. This spring I noticed that we have about ten times more birds, and also different birds from what we had even last year. This is how long it’s taken for the birds to decide to nest close to a water source… my deck… lol Here is another example: I made a couple of misguided experiments over the years to maintain my girlish body… Instead, I ballooned. Two years ago I weighed in at 166 lbs. That is whale weight, ladies and gentlemen. I decided to overhaul everything and reach my normal weight. It was about 18 months ago… I don’t remember the date. But I am certain that it coincides with me starting the 67 steps… It was such a turning point for me. 18 months. 18 more days till my birthday. I weighed 126 lbs when I got up this morning. That is one pound over my target goal. I am committed to continue only things I am willing to keep up till I die… nothing fancy, nothing special, nothing campaign-like. The pull is there… to rig it. To cheat… but it’s not worth it. More than just my weight and my shape changed. My hair is dark and bushy… My energy level, unless I am forcing something, is exquisite… The past two days I have been forcing… my body is hurting as a result. Why I’ve been forcing? I don’t remember… some hurry sneaked in on me. I listened to Tai’s talk today… he was reading Kipling’s poem: IF. Many people love that poem. But the acquisition of knowledge is not as important as the application of knowledge. Loving something does not mean you are doing ANYTHING about it. When it awakens desire, then you think that by imagining being a Man you are in fact a Man… Hogwash. When it awakens ambition, then it is the starting point of your ascent, at the end point of which you’ll become a Man. Using the mind the way you are taught to use the mind makes you delusional, chasing mirages, or sitting as if you were already that which you imagine. Becoming has little to do with the imagination, and all to do with work. Hard work. Saying lots of no’s. Taking abuse, taking hardship, taking insults, and not wavering. Like it says in the poem. IF by Rudyard Kipling If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream — and not make dreams your master; If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son! And the audio http://evp-50116959de4b9-dd521b5ed563ee25508422182c681a30.s3.amazonaws.com/if.mp3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6aY3Gc5QXc Read the rest at http://www.yourvibration.com/37547/more-about-desire-and-ambition/