The Peril of Soaring High

Today, I find myself thinking about the paradox we live in, a world where we both celebrate and tear down those who strive for something more. It’s like we have this collective love for success—until it shines too brightly. We praise ambition, but the moment someone actually achieves it, we start pulling them back down. Why is that?

I’ve noticed how quick we are to applaud ourselves for the simplest things, like getting through another day, and yes, there’s value in that. But when someone aims higher, reaching for goals beyond the everyday, the reactions shift. Suddenly, admiration turns into skepticism, and support transforms into envy. It’s as though we’re uncomfortable with someone else’s greatness, afraid it might remind us of our own perceived shortcomings.

I can’t help but wonder why we do this. We build up these people, the ones who dare to dream, putting them on pedestals, but it seems those pedestals are only there to make the fall harder. We watch, almost eagerly, as they stumble, as if their failure somehow justifies our own fears or inaction.

But here’s the thing—I don’t think it’s about the overachievers at all. It’s about what they represent: the courage to step beyond what’s comfortable. Maybe it’s not even intentional, this act of dragging them down; maybe it’s a reflection of our own battles with mediocrity and ambition.

Still, there’s something admirable in those who rise despite it all. They’re proof that no amount of judgment can clip the wings of those determined to soar. For every one of us who has ever felt the sting of judgment for wanting more, for reaching too far, maybe the takeaway is this: the world’s response to our ambition is more about them than it is about us. And that’s something to hold on to.

So, the question I’m left with is this: When did we start believing that someone else’s success diminishes our own? And when do we stop letting that belief hold us back from achieving everything we’re capable of? Maybe the only judgment that really matters is our own.