Potential: The anticipation of something that might be.

I took this picture yesterday. Every time I looked at this picture I kept thinking of the word potential. Webster defines this word as "existing in possibility, not actuality." Another way of saying this is "anything that may be possible." Some related words I liked were unmanifested, small hope.  Southerners like to say "might could." It has been pointed out to me that I actually use that phrase. I know, don't cringe.

What I see in this picture is a sitting area that needs to be raked, containers that need to be planted, and what is undefined and cluttered be made welcoming. I don't see work to be done I see possibilities with an end result in mind.  Potential seems to have a positive application. Potential is the anticipation of something that might be.

When my oldest son was in school I received several calls over the years from concerned teachers who spoke to me of his "potential" that he was not tapping into. His grades were not up to his potential (unmanifested). And that seemed to be a sad thing to his teachers (and to me). When we don't realize our potential it is like we are not all of who we could possibly be but just a part of our whole self.  By not reaching into our potential we are short changing ourselves. But our potential is always there.

My children recently lost their father to cancer. What a terrible loss they experienced. My youngest son never really had what I would call a full relationship with his father, but when his Dad was alive there was always that potential (small hope) of a better relationship. I think my son mourns not only the loss of the person but the loss of a potentially closer relationship.

I am looking forward to working on all the potential projects around my home, and tapping into my potential creativity and unrealized abilities to get them done. Potentially we all have potential, and I might could do something about that.