Aim for the Stars

I once heard a statement I’ve never forgotten and always attempted to live by, Aim for the stars hit the treetops aim for the treetops hit the ground. In Philippians 3:14 The apostle Paul said something similar, also something I’ve attempted to live by. He said “reaching forward to those things which are before me, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when all the reward is taken away, no one will try or want to succeed. I recently came across this story that illustrates it so well.
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that the best world to live in was a world where no one would be poor and no one would be rich, this would be a great equaliser they thought.

The professor said, "OK then, lets have an experiment in this class on that plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that their well meaning idea would also ultimately fail them because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when all the reward is taken away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. Aim for the stars.