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What is the difference between being driven and being desperate?

Giggly

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I once read somewhere that what we cling to slips away from us. That had something to do with desperation. But, on the on the other hand, isn't that what drive us too?....Being driven and ambitious to achieve something? Where do we draw the line between desperation, which is seen as something bad in our society, and drive which is seen as something good in our society?

Sorry if this is worded badly. It's just a thought I had.
 

wildflower

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i think what we are driven by can be either good or bad, or healthy or unhealthy, motivations. it is a common scenario for some men who were never approved of by their fathers to be very driven in their careers. they are driven not by their own passion but by a need to gain approval by their fathers, or later society, once they succeed. it would be much healthier to be driven by a passion and love for what they do. it's the same with relationships. a woman desperate to marry will drive men away vs. a woman who enjoys being with a particular man because she genuinely cares about him. both scenarios i've mentioned are stereotypes but they do happen.
 

rav3n

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Desperation is a condition where you fear loss of something which you believe you are losing. Drive is the desire and determination to attain.
 

Giggly

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Desperation is a condition where you fear loss of something which you believe you are losing. Drive is the desire and determination to attain.

It may be something that you don't already have yet but you want it... desperately.

When are you desperate and pathetic, and when are you a confident, ambitious, go -getter?

It's confusing to me!
 

rav3n

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It may be something that you don't already have yet but you want it... desperately.

When are you desperate and pathetic, and when are you a confident, ambitious, go -getter?

It's confusing to me!
How low will the individual stoop, to hold or attain this?
 

Giggly

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How low will the individual stoop, to hold or attain this?

I don't know. There are always (or supposed to be) trade off's that make this hard to discern. Maybe it's subjective according to a person's comfort level.
 

highlander

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It may be something that you don't already have yet but you want it... desperately.

When are you desperate and pathetic, and when are you a confident, ambitious, go -getter?

It's confusing to me!

I think someone is "driven" if they have a compulsion to do something. What they are driven towards could be good or bad though usually the implication is that it is positive. There is an urgency to an extreme and possible recklessness associated with desperation.
 

wolfy

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On a personal level I think it's the ability to maintain a certain tension needed to achieve a goal while not letting it spill out in needless emotional display.
 

Siúil a Rúin

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Drive can be related to a sense of self that feels empowered to contribute in some unique way. Ideally a person is energized by something that is interesting to them and they are doing the thing that makes them happy.

It can be an expression of desperation if the person could not deal with failure. If a sense of self is so connected to "winning" that they are driven by fear of losing, then it can become unhealthy. I also think that obsession with money can connect into unhealthy fear much more quickly than a focus on contributing to the world in some way.
 

Meaning

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They seem to be seperate things. Desperation being an all out emotional state centered around a helpless urgency, whereas drive is all about a fierce yet steady push forward.

For example, I am driven as all hell generally, but right now, due to my circumstances, I'm getting a bit desperate for progress. A driven person, I suppose, could grow desperate to succeed. Which is not a good thing for many reasons.
 
R

ReflecTcelfeR

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Driven is goal focused, and desperation is survival focused.
 

Eckhart

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When you succeed, you are driven. When you fail, you are desperate. I think this is how people view each other at least.
 

TenebrousReflection

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I think being driven is seen as a natural state of mind - a personality trait - it is an always on sort of thing for the people that have it. Desperation may result in a similar effect, but it is very focused on a specific purpose, and it also caries with it the implication of a highly emotional state of mind that frequently clouds logical judgment - once the goal the desperation is making one strive for is reached (which is a real rarity since desperation often results in self-defeating behavior and decisions), the drive will disappear.

Is it possible to be driven by desperation and still remain logical and rational? that is something I'm curious about...
 

miss fortune

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desperate can be satiated, driven cannot be :shrug:
 

Poki

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desperate can be satiated, driven cannot be :shrug:

Pretty good attempt...reasoning...desperate has a goal...driven is more along the lines of a personality
 

Rasofy

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Quick thoughts:

Desperate = ''I wouldn't know how to live without it'' - low self esteem (unless there's a real threat)
Driven = ''I want it and I can do it'' - healthy confidence

Obsessed = (Desperate+driven)² - When desperation aligns with drive the combination is unhealthy and unsustainable, but it has some personal growth potential.
 

miss fortune

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Pretty good attempt...reasoning...desperate has a goal...driven is more along the lines of a personality

desperate can stop at a certain point... desperate can be satisfied because they need something to be complete and it can be found :thinking:

driven cannot be satisfied because there is no such thing- driven is attempting to fill a bottomless hole because driving forward is really all that they can do :shrug:
 

Poki

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desperate can stop at a certain point... desperate can be satisfied because they need something to be complete and it can be found :thinking:

driven cannot be satisfied because there is no such thing- driven is attempting to fill a bottomless hole because driving forward is really all that they can do :shrug:

sounds good to me :shrug:
 

Poki

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there is much shrugging in this thread :thelook:


:rofl1:

Yeah, its just states of mind and perception. How can you say if someone that is driven isnt sub-consiously desperate and vice versa. I think its to "abstract" for an S type ;)
 
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