How Do You Understand Your Potential?
Friday, May 1, 2009
@Hollie
Hollie honey are you playing a guitar? Go for it girl. Please read what I have written below.
You have got it all, keep experimenting with different activities and over time you will find it.
From an educator in Australia who is interested in helping young people to recognise their potential and use their gifts and talents to serve, uplift and inspire humanity.
God has given every single person on the planet gifts,capacities and virtues that can be manifested and fulfilled through our own persoal volition. Look deep inside, what activities and interests are you drawn to, love doing, are passionate about, lose all track of time when you are engaged in doing it. Yes these are the ones that make you feel alive and is your life's destiny to share with the world. Happy soul searching, I hope you easily recognise your life's passion, manifest it and share it with us. Bring to light what is hidden and tucked away inside yourself. Call on God's higher power and inspiration to guide you in underatanding your own potential and assisting you on your life path. We can draw inspiration, encouragement and support from one another. Create a network of friends who will sustain you on this journey.
I find that by attempting to do things I think I cannot, I discover where the boundaries of my potential are.
The moments that show me most that I am capable of more than I often believe are the ones where I don't even think but instead take charge and solve several problems in a short time. For instance, when planning an event for my residence hall at my school things often come up at the last second. Another time is when I'm doing lab research and something doesn't work out the way I hope. In either case, I almost completely shut off my constant thought and just make quick decisions to improve the situation as much as possible. It's when I look back at these times that I really understand how much I can do if I give it my best.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems that, other than the "get out of your comfort zone" answer that I often hear, it's the moments when you least understand how much you're doing that you show your potential most. It sounds a bit crazy, but maybe someone understands what I'm getting at.
I don't. Understand, that is.
But one thing I know (or is it "hope"?) is that I haven't reached it yet.
And another thing I know (or is it "hope"?) is that I never will.
I try not to stay in the calm, comfortable water for too long. (Like a salmon) I must keep jumpin' up stream hittin' my head on rocks, moving forward through the currents.... Hopefully my art and potential to create improves with lifes adventures.
@applegrass
I find your response poignant and insightful.
I agree with what you said- It is a choice. Potential being limitless, we have to choose which vision we will pursue. I would venture that God provides the “limitless” aspect of potential, and allows us to navigate through it by our choices; choices made necessary by our limited bodies and minds. And in choosing, we also have to accept the loss of all other possibilities. It seems that is part of our consequence or responsibility.
But what about the dark side of potential? I believe in a natural law of balance- that there is an “equal and opposite” in everything. The more power a person has to do good, the greater the potential for destruction. The most heinous weapons are often the bastard children of science that was originally aimed at bettering the world. Limitless goes both ways. We all have the *potential* to be murderers, rapists, thieves...
Which potential are we nurturing?
Possibility + Time and Place + Nurturing of some sort = Potential
You can do anything you set your mind to, that's the beauty of the human spirit.
The question is "how you understand your potential?", not "how do you measure your potential?". I think that this little difference is actually a little difference. Measurement implies standards by which something is assessed. Understanding implies awareness and acknowledgement.
I would answer that I understand my potential as being limitless. If I am what I know, then my potential for growth is unlimited. So is yours in the same circumstance. You understand your potential inasmuch as you are what you know.
Full potential is unattainable like that one girl said. It implies a future context. It is something to work toward. As we develop we continue to grow and expand as does out potential.
Creatures of Free Will have limitless potential.
Determination likes to limit Free Will.
I guess I think it's a matter of figuring out how keep Determination from potentially raining on my Free Will parade so I can accomplish my goals.
Potential is something we can know, think we know, ought to know or just plain don't know. By understanding ourselves, others and the possibilities we can realize our potential.
It is limitless and unmeasurable. One only needs to believe and trust that potential exits to soar.
hmmm, well i guess it would be impossible to live up to our FULL potential, because we all have the "potential" to cure cancer or save an endangered species, but not all of us are going to do it.
i guess potential, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. we have to know the kind of person we want to be, and if we are not them yet, do everything we can to be that person.
so our "full potential" doesn't have to be good grades or a well-paying job, it can be kindness or honesty or any other attribute that we have yet to grasp.
How do you reach it.... by doing.
How do you understand it... by listening, hearing yourself and others.
Your potental is what make of it, from your job, life, and other things. No one can measure it but yourself. No one can tell you what your potental should be.
Fruition
For many flowers
Rooted to the earth
Sweet fruits and hardy vegetables
Are sure to follow
Can people be this way?
I believe we can
@luvs2laff Great response. I definitely agree that self-awareness provides the best spring board into real potential, or awareness of what that potential is.
There are a lot of ways to look at this. I like to use this phrase from the Bahai Writings as one way of understanding it:
"Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by one word more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by yet another word his station and destiny were safeguarded. The Great Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. If any man were to meditate on that which the Scriptures, sent down from the heaven of God's holy Will, have revealed, he would readily recognize that their purpose is that all men shall be regarded as one soul, so that the seal bearing the words "The Kingdom shall be God's" may be stamped on every heart, and the light of Divine bounty, of grace, and mercy may envelop all mankind."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 259)
Like I said this is one perspective I like to draw upon.
I think you have to know yourself really well in order to totally reach your potential. Most dont really think about it, which is why it's such a hard question to answer when asked. Haven't reached mine yet, but when I do, I will let you know. :)
How? With time, experience, failure, humility, contemplation, hope, faith, and patience.
By looking within me to discover what I enjoy doing for myself and others. Whatever I do provided it stems from love gives me satisfaction hence POTENTIAL!
Your only limitation is your mind (what YOU think about yourself and your possibilities).
I think every person has limitless potential. From birth we're all equal, we can all go out and accomplish just as much or more than anyone else has. Some of us don't have the ability others do = bull, you're born blind, or something doesn't work the way other people's does, but that doesn't mean you're limited. Hellen Keller, Rosa Parks, Ghandi, if you think you can't go out and achieve as much as these people did or more you need to really look at your character. Potential is limitless for everyone, but very very few people choose to exercise it.
--churney
"Art is never finished, only abandoned."
-Leonardo Da Vinci
I think as long as you have the determination to accomplish more you will. Potential is a bottomless pit, some peoples' just start higher up.
I think of our personal potential as something that is within our reach, but hasn't been attained yet. We might see something specific in our lives we can and want to do, while someone else might see something entirely different in us they think we should/could aspire to. Accomplishment is a potential that has been fully realized. There's my definition...what's my specific potential? Always looking for "it"...and inviting others to help me find "it" as well. :)
I am constantly seeking my potential. I am always trying to better myself and what I do. I want to be the best that I can be in everything I can do. I have a new job and am seeking to advance, so I'll be working as hard as I can to achieve my potential in that. I am constantly seeking to better my relationships with other people, especially in love.
potential is a daunting subject because it's closely associated with our 'free will' (or lack of it). we'd like to think that we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to do, that the sky's the limit. looking back at human achievement gives us hope that this is the case. we can be whatever we desire to be, do whatever we desire to do.
but i've always been a little overwhelmed by the subject. the flip side of potential is consequence. the fact is, we can't do it all. we must choose. we must constantly steer our potential this way or that. some are very inspired by visions of their own potential, others are haunted by it. but really, who's holding the steering wheel? who guides this limitless potential through this very limited body and mind? is it me or god, both or neither? are the body and mind necessary conduits for realizing potential or obstacles to it? what do y'all think?
Potential is just one of those stupid words made up by man to compare each other, and in doing so, feel superior to others in some way. Just live life the was you feel is right, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not your friends, your family, not even your government... ESPECIALLY not your government.
I think potential should be limitless, but if people are unmotivated, it becomes extremely limited, due to the fact that they will never reach any heights.
Fulfillment
I wish I was a farmer
A self-reliant me
Sweat dripping from my brow
My back aching towards the ground
Sun burning on my neck
Hands blistered from a hoe
Fingernails filled with dirt
That way, if I should become lazy
No one could be hungrier
My potential is based on desires and interests. Things that I think will bring me enjoyment. It's also is based on current skills, things that i can do but can also improve on. These are things that the soul demonstrates it's self.
Generally speaking, I understand my potential as that which God wants me to become. Still, I can scarcely comprehend what that "becoming" might look like.
I understand my potential as the ability to find ways of manifesting whatever I dream of as my Best Life. Those dreams don't come from me, they come through me, and it is up to me to focus on that grand picture as I work my way there. Every day is the manifestation of my Best Life.
Potential being the peak of ability, and most broadly, the peak of one's ability to function in the world and their own personal endeavors, I think that I am solid in the idea that the idea that I realize that I am fully living up to my own potential that I will take my own life.
Because, being in love with progress, I don't think I could bear dealing with the fact that what I was doing then was the absolute best that I would ever do.
I don't. I don't think anyone can, because your potential doesn't end until you do.
It's fun to watch people responding to such a subjective question. Phrase of the day: "Well, in my opinion...yada yada..."
is the question "How do you UNDERSTAND potential?" or "How do you MEASURE potential?"
Because I understand potential to be the ability to do something. And, for me, it's something you can see in a person through their defining characteristics.
Howeve, I don't believe you can measure potential because that puts a limit on a person's reach. Possibilites are unlimited, so is potential.
Life story:
The worst statement in the world: 'You had so much potential'.
But-
'But, that's gonna change - I'm going to change. This is the last of that sort of thing. Now I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm gonna be just like you. The job, the family, the fucking big television. The washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electric tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisure wear, luggage, three piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption, clearing gutters, getting by, looking ahead to the day you die (Trainspotting. Danny Boyle. John Hodge, screenplay. Ewan McGregor. 1996.)
I think the biggest measure of potential has to be your ability and willingness to learn. The bigger that is, the bigger your true potential is.
If you close your mind to new things, you're bound to be stuck in a rut.
Maybe it's a balance between downside potential and upside potential?
In my opinion, it's not really a question of understanding your potential as actually attaining it. Do we ever really reach our full potential? I hope not. I learn something new every day. We can only become our best selves by continually striving to be the best person we can be every day. And hopefully, keep trying, keep reaching. To give up is to die.
DISCUSSION TOOLSET
uhmnn.. by doing those things that you truly like. from that probably you'll get a good peek of your potential.