Untapped Potential

I heard the following quote in my institute class last semester: “How often we are admonished not to waste time. What an absurdity. We can’t waste time, or spend it, or save it. It is like warning a fish in the ocean not to waste water. We have no influence at all on time, any more than we have on space. We are born in it; it surrounds us all. What we can waste—and do—is ourselves. The personal tragedy—the waste—lies in what we do not give, the efforts we do not make, the powers we do not use, the happiness we do not earn, the kindness we neglect to bestow, the noble though and deeds that could be ours if only we realized why we are here. You say you are wasting time. Correct yourself. Say, frankly; ‘I am wasting me.’” –Guideposts May 1959. This is one of my all-time favorite quotes; it’s so eloquently illustrated that I have but little to add. We have mounds and mounds of untapped potential, so what’s holding us back? I know for me, it’s daunting and overwhelming. We have so many other things we’re trying to keep up with: school, work, family and friends, exercise, and religion. To reach our potential we’ve just got to start small and keep going. If it’s too overwhelming, we won’t do anything. The best thing to do is break it down, make small goals, and be persistent. Pretty soon we’ll see that we’ve made progress.