As a kid I wasn’t a particularly good athlete. In fact, I was kind of crap. Maybe because I didn’t have enormous sporting potential. And maybe because I failed to explore or develop what talent I did have. And possibly because I was fat. Not chubby or thick-set and not well-built (good grief); no, fat. I wasn’t a brilliant student either. On the academic scale between stupid and smart, I guess I landed somewhere in the middle. Although, to be totally honest, I never really gave the ‘schoolwork’ part of school a red hot crack. From memory, I majored in socialising, stuffing around and avoidance. In some ways, I was the poster-boy for under-achievement, which was probably less a reflection of my mediocre potential and more a reflection of my less-than-mediocre choices and behaviours.
And then there’s the creative realm. You know; art, design, writing, story-telling (okay, bullshitting), music and so on. It’s fair to say that, while I did demonstrate a level of aptitude for the creative stuff, for a range of reasons, I never really explored my potential or possibilities there either. Not until much, much later. Like, now.
Potential.
We’ve all got it.
Some of us have enormous potential in one or two areas but way less in others. Some of us are creative but not athletic. Some are gifted mechanically but not so great in the class room. Some can build a space shuttle out of junk but struggle to spell… junk. Some are musical genii who can’t look people in the eye or catch a ball and others are moderately talented across a range of areas. This is called being human.
When it comes to the matter of potential, some of us will use what we have. Well, more than most, anyway. Some of us will find a way to explore what we’ve been given and to maximise it. To squeeze the life out of it. And some of us will sit on it. And wait. And wait. And waste. And waste. Forever. And then we’ll die.
Well, eventually.
Like a beautiful song that’s never been sung. 🙁
When it comes to the matter of human performance, that is, the kind of results you individually produce in your world, the relevant question is not, ‘how much potential do you have’?, but rather, ‘what will you do with what you’ve been given’? And while it’s relatively easy to acquire more knowledge, skill, resources and stuff, you’ll never have any more potential than you do right now. Your song is there my friend.
Start singing. 🙂
