Originally Posted: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008
At the instant we are born we have infinite potential. It is God’s gift to us. And each second we live we are exposed to other people who also once had unlimited potential. But not a one of them has realized all of that potential. Do I really believe that? It is an opinion, a hypothesis, a belief. Let me explain.
I believe that our lives are shaped by the lives of those around us. If we experience loving and caring each and every day, we will also have those tendencies. If those around us work hard to make a living, chances are that their work ethic will live in us. If they accept the mantle of leadership, we too may be comfortable leading others. On the other hand, if those who raise us are “takers,” it is likely that we will reflect those tendencies. If they are lazy, we might not work as hard as we might. And if they do not set and work toward goals in their life, we too may tend to drift through life without self set direction.
Why do I believe this? Where did this come from? My life. My life has been a series of hills and valleys, with true optimism about my future at the heights and full of despair at the valleys. I have been fortunate to get a college education, and then get the direction to pursue an advanced degree. Upon gaining that degree the world of work was next. Mishandling of finances and personal relationships paved a descent into undesirable lands. And now I am learning some of the things I needed all of those years ago, and am seeing the light at the top of the next hill. One important thing I have learned is that if you feel you are missing something too make the leap forward, go and get some help! There are people out there who can help you see things you cannot see yourself.
One of my objectives for the second half of my life is to prepare our children, as best as possible, for the possibilites the world may offer at the forks in their roads. It's also one of the drivers for "The Wisdom of Age," sharing what we wish we knew when we were younger with those who might actually benefit from it. Lofty? Ambitious? Perhaps, but I can't get past the thought that I would be in a very different place with some additional guidance when I was younger.
So of all of the people born into this world today, how do some become “worker bees” and some become a future President? I have come to believe that as our lives progress we come to forks in the road, where each of the available paths before us will guide us until another fork arrives. If we are fortunate enough to have had wise counsel and a good compass, we make the “right” choice and realize more of our unlimited birth potential. If we are less fortunate we choose a less optimal path and our potential lies dormant, awaiting the next fork. In our fast moving society the forks are many and we all too often don't get a second chance at any of them. All too many leave this Earth with much of their potential left inside of them. Some of us find it only occasionally, making some good and some bad decisions. And some appear to get it right a majority of the time, or at least at the most opportune times, and they seem to get more opportunities at forks. And those who choose correctly become the people we remember for eternity: Michelangelo, Leonardo daVinci, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lech Walesa, Mother Teresa, Ronald Reagan, Orah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and, God willing, Barack Obama.
Finally, I believe that his election to our highest office should inspire all of us to find our hidden potential and find an avenue to let it out and move the world to a better place:
a planet where we always play “win-win,” where we always ask ourselves “What more can I do to unlock more of our cumulative hidden potential?” And to find the courage to follow through, and do what we can to give future generations a world that is better than our world of today. A world where fear can find no ground on which to grow; where hope and possibility are everywhere we look; where every part of God’s rainbow can shine forth and share more of their potential with their brothers and sisters, and maybe even a world that can become Heaven right here on Earth!
Until Next Time,
Julius
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