“We’re not discussing davening, we’re discussing yearning.”
The Maharal says that רצון is davening But it is possible that there is a difference. Either way, this may make this whole discussion different, as you will see further in my post. Thank you for pointing that out.
“R’ Akiva didn’t say “when will I reach that level”, he said ” מתי יבא לידי ואקיימנו “.”
Which may mean that you and Joseph are right.
Secon Possibiltiy (unlikely), when he said “ואקיימנו “, he could have been referring to “reaching the level”.
Third possibility (most likely)- “b’chol nafshecha” refer to “reaching the level of Ahavas Hashem”, and R’ Akiva yearned to actually be m’kayim it.
Even if this what R’ Akiva yearned for, I am not sure that is necessarily what the rest of us are supposed to do.
I don’t think that we can talk about yearning to die al kiddush Hashem until we have reached that level. So I still think that what we are supposed to have in mind when we say “b’chol nafshecha” is that we are trying to reach that level of Ahavas Hashem.
If you were talking about what one has in mind when saying “b’chol levavecha”, it would mean that we were talking about davening, and then it would have to apply to all of us, since it’s the meaning of the words. If you say that we are talking about yearning and not davening, that means that that is not the meaning of the words per se’, and in that case, it doesn’t necessarily have to apply to all of us. At most, it would be something to strive for.