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Shahriar Shahriari |
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Message of the Month
March, 2004
Potential
Somebody at work was telling me that I had a lot of potential in a certain area, and I simply responded by saying that I was not interested in my potential; I was only interested in the actual.
Was I being too shortsighted about this? Was it an expression of my frustration? I don’t know. But it reminded me of what I had once heard. "Those who will not read are no better than those who cannot read."
Is it the same with potential? Is it that those who will not exercise and actualize their potential are no better than those who don’t have any? And is it the same with talent, and creativity, and compassion, and all other innate gifts of ours?
I realize that any mastery requires an appropriate period of apprenticeship, whether it is in the service of a teacher or in the lonely service of life itself.
But do we have the responsibility to actualize all our potentials? Or is it really up to us to choose what we want to devote ourselves to, and what to leave aside?
© Shahriar Shahriari
Los Angeles, CA
March 2004
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