“There are admirable potentialities in every human being” (André Gide).
POTENTIAL HAS TO DO WITH POSSIBILITIES. It means we can grow, develop, and learn to use powers that are only latent within us right now. And the fact is, every human being has some potential. Improvement is always possible in the way we live and serve others. That’s true because no human being is using all the powers he or she is capable of using. We all have room to grow, and we need to be encouraged by the fact that our potential for growth is greater than we’ve imagined in the past. Our possibilities should energize us.
There is a sense, of course, in which it’s better to have as little potential as possible. If we define potential as unused ability, then it would be a compliment if someone said we had very little of that!
But most of us have at least a few powers we’ve not learned to use fully, and so one of the most important items on our agenda in this world is reaching forward to realize more of our potential. In fact, the quality of our lives depends more on this than it does on the enjoyment of things we’ve already accomplished. There is always an impulse in the human mind that wants to make progress. Apathy, indifference, complacency, and the like are deadly enemies, and we’re not happy, really, unless we’re striving toward our full potential.
And yet, there’s a consideration even more important than our own growth, and that would be the growth of those whom we love. We never use ourselves more worthily than when we do things that help our loved ones reach their potential. When we even help them see their potential more clearly, we do them a favor. And there aren’t many joys in life greater than watching someone reach a potential we’ve encouraged them to see and develop.
The fulfillment of potential, whether our own or somebody else’s, almost always requires sacrifice. The weightlifter’s motto, “No pain, no gain,” is pertinent to far more than physical training. There is nothing worth having in life that doesn’t have a price tag, and the cost of realizing our potential often consists of letting go of the comforts of our current condition. We can’t have tomorrow and today too — either we pay the price and grow, or we stay stuck where we are.
“The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become” (Charles DuBois).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
