When we think of fear, most of the time we think of something outside of ourselves. Some external force or situation that could POTENTIALLY cause us pain like sickness, violence, economic collapse, etc. While those things are frightful, I want to talk today about something that I think is absolutely terrifying. And that we try to avoid, deny, and escape from on a DAILY if not HOURLY basis.
I am talking about the fear of our OWN POTENTIAL.
It is absolutely terrifying to realize our potential, because the moment we do that we are now RESPONSIBLE for what happens next. And if we don’t do anything about it, then we know that we did not live up to our capabilities.
That is why we DENY it.
That is why we IGNORE it.
That is why we try to ESCAPE from it.
We all do this in little forms throughout the day. With either the words we say: ,”I can’t do that...I’m not talented enough...I don’t have what it takes.” Or with our actions: hitting snooze for an hour (guilty), scrolling the internet or social media unnecessarily (guilty again), binge watching Netflix (we’ve all been there.)
I think the reason why we do this is that we want to ESCAPE from the REALITY that we are CAPABLE of GREAT things. We don’t want to face it, we don’t want to know it, we don’t want to own it. Because the moment we do face it, the moment we know we are capable of great, incredible things:
We have to BECOME SOMEONE GREATER.
And that is painful.
So we avoid it.
The process of becoming the person who REALIZES and ACTUALIZES their potential requires sacrifice and discomfort. Something that we typically don’t want to EMBRACE (even though we need to.) That is why we deny, ignore, and escape.
What is one area of your life that you are choosing to deny your potential? What is one area that you are choosing not to see yourself as you really are and more importantly who you could become? What is one area where you are trying to escape?
Could be at work. You’re just “working for the weekend.”
Could be at home. You’re just, “surviving.”
Could be at the gym. You’re just “deloading for a month.”
My encouragement for all of us is to take a good, hard look in the mirror at who we presently ARE and who we could BECOME in the future. We must find those areas where we are trying to escape the terrifying reality of our potential, face it head on and close the gap between where we are and where we want to be.
Jim Rohn says, ““If you are not willing to risk the unusual, then you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
You and I were created for FAR MORE than ordinary. Let’s not try to escape that.
Let’s CHOOSE extraordinary.
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