The Potential Problem

Friends, "potential" is a funny word. Funny how, you may ask? Think about the word. Potential. It just rolls off your tongue, and it sounds smooth. But how do we know what "potential" means? My guess is, it's a smooth sounding word with a rather rough meaning.

I grew up going to private schools, so I heard the word "potential" a lot. I have a mom who told me I was blessed with so much "potential" and that I should find something to do to put all that "potential" to use. I had teachers who told me I had so many "potential" options, and I got to the point where I picked a "potential" option to showcase my "potential," and I didn't look back. This word became so ingrained in my self, I've realized I spend an inordinate amount of time patiently trying to teach 6 year-olds what the word means. Potential.  

In some cases, potential is easy to measure. We can measure how many trophies we win, how many journal articles we publish, how many children we have, how many miles we run, and how many countries we visit. Especially if you're scientifically-minded, you can probably measure (or at least try to measure) everything in God's great creation, and you just might reach your potential goal. But how do you know when you're done? How do you know when you've fully developed your potential? How do you know when you've accomplished all you can potentially accomplish?  

This has been bothering me for the better part of the afternoon. There's some magnificent thought lurking in the shadows of my consciousness, and I can't quite draw it out of hiding. Maybe it's the fact that "reaching your potential" implies that you know exactly what you're capable of. I would argue that you don't know what you're capable of until you actually do it. You don't know how fast you can run until you surpass your previous record. You don't know how much hate you're capable of until you surprise even yourself. You don't know how much love you're capable of until you exceed the greatest amount of love you thought you could ever have.

And so, my solution is to keep on striving to reach that unknown constant: potential. You never know what you're capable of until you actually do it, so never give up.