Shoot for the Moon

(I wrote this at the end of last year, but felt like sharing it today)

This year has been a hard one. For all of us. Natural and unnatural disasters alike struck multiple nations. Some catastrophes received more attention than others. One of the saddest losses this year was perhaps one that we cannot see or touch or hear, but one that we feel. We lost our vision. Our hope. Our faith. A body of proof lies in our apathetic attitudes, our loss of drive and ambition and the previously ever reaching hands of humanity now lifelessly hanging at our side. In example of this loss of vision, I would like to bring recognition to the end of our space shuttle program. Here’s the part where, unless you’re a Trekky, you tune me out, but read on and you’ll discover the gravity or rather the lack there of that this event contains .

The race for space was inspired by many motivations, without argument.  I will refrain from the political aims and war strategies involved for the sake of focusing on the main objective of this piece. There are also those who believe that the entire arrival on the moon was nothing more than a deceptive  rouge.  I will also steer clear of that controversy, and bring us together into an understanding that we can all agree on.

Going to the moon was more about discovery, conquest, and reaching to touch the untouchable than it was about anything else. It was a picture of mankind stretching our boundaries further than we ever thought possible to see how far we could go. It was something that was thought to be only a dream. An impossibility. Somewhere along the line, rather by competitive nature or insatiable curiosity, we became determined to find a way, and the race began.

In the process of the pursuit we made life changing revolutions. The name “spin-offs” was given to the surprisingly long list of products and technology originally invented for the space program but then were adapted for consumer usage. Everything from the athletic shoes I’m wearing to the iPhone I’m currently addicted to, and even the computer I’m typing this article on were all invented or directly effected by the lofty goal of outer space. Without these advancements our existence would be admittedly less convenient, and in some cases our life spans even effected. The medical advances attributed to the space program are astonishing.

Bringing all this to your attention is really to point out a more protruding truth. Setting high goals for oneself , for our nation, and for humanity is essential to our advancement. Reaching said goal is more than noteworthy, but the discoveries along the way often influence our lives in an even more profound way than that single moment of accomplishment ever will. Only two men stepped foot on the face of the moon that 20th day of July in 1969, but we all went on the journey. We all benefited from the accomplishment of that moment. I wonder who will benefit from your personal pursuits. How will the world be effected by your goals?

So what happens now?  What do we chase? What do we seek? If the inspired inventions needed for space travel are now abandoned what will keep us dreaming of the impossible? What is our vision? What is our hope? What is yours?

Reaching, growing, evolving, changing, learning, expanding; that is what makes life worth living. Life is the point, isn’t it? After all the first thing we wanted to know about the moon, or any newly explored land was and still remains,  “Does  life exist there?” I suppose all of this really comes down to our most basic quest. The search for life. So, I say to you, despite the events of the last year; The things that have been lost, the things that died, the recession, the soldiers still abroad and the ever rising price of gas, let the search for life continue! Let hope endure, and our future endeavors be even larger than our past accomplishments.  May shooting for the moon be what we used to do, for now we shoot for something farther, greater, and still seemingly impossible.  Mars anyone?