Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The potential crash

Potential - the currently unfilled capacity to improve, develop or achieve; the possibility or expectation to become. Potential is what could be. You can see the possibilities. I've known a lot of people who have potential. I can see the things they can accomplish. The incredible gifts they possess and the impact they can make. BUT, potential can also be wasted. At some point it stops being potential and becomes what could have been. You see the things that could have been accomplished. The opportunities that might have been if they had tried to live up to their potential. Potential gives hope, but potential wasted is sad. You realize that they have settled where they are and don't want to make the effort to improve or achieve more.

I can't imagine what potential God sees in us. He created us and knows what we can accomplish. But, we tell him we can't do it. It takes too much effort. It is too big for us. We want to stop where we are currently at because it is comfortable and safe or at least it is known. The unknown is where potential lies. It is where we haven't gone yet. It is what might be waiting for us to achieve. We may have stopped and wasted opportunities, but the cool thing about potential is that there is always more for us. We may get sidetracked and give up, but God still sees the potential in us. We always have the chance to become more.

So what are you doing with your potential? Dare to dream a little. My guess is that what God is seeing as your potential is so much more than your hoped for dream. Let's start working at making what could be into what is. To quote the anti-drug campaigns of the 90s, "Your potential is a terrible thing to waste." (Okay, so it said mind instead of potential, but it still works.)

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