There are people in life who do things because they love to do them. There are other people in life who do things because they think it will bring them fortune and glory. Their focus is only on the end goal – what will this get me? – and they lose the opportunity to enjoy their endeavour.
I know people who go through life constantly jumping from task to task, never really settling long enough to take any pleasure in what they do. Each idea will be the one that makes them rich, famous and will earn them recognition.
The behaviour of glory hunters puts me in mind of the school child at the front of the classroom whose hand always shoots up first. They straighten fingers, strain elbows and lean shoulders forward in the hope they will be chosen. They catch the teacher’s eye and chant “me, me, me, I know, I know”. They rise from the seat, knees trembling with the effort of half-standing, back arched, reaching to the front desperate to be ‘the one’.
I often wonder what became of that child after school and then look around and realise he is always nearby, still glory hunting, but with fortune and glory forever out of reach. What a waste of life’s pleasures.
Elloise Hopkins.
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