Quote 1

Vassily Kandinsky, 1913 – Color Study, Squares with Concentric Circles. Wikimedia Commons

“Most people live in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole organism should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.”

William James

Potential implies possibility, prospects, promise, capability. We all have these qualities, but, as the quotation above reminds us, we do not always use or develop our potential. Sometimes, this is latent, hidden, even from our own awareness. Yet there is much potential power inside us all that is largely untapped.

Of course, we need to take care that we do not over-pressurise ourselves with the belief that we have to reach our ‘full’ potential. We can never know what this is, or whether we have reached, or will reach it. Potential is not finite, and the most we can do is to put efforts into improving ourselves and becoming wiser and more able as each year passes.

Olga Sacharoff – Woman Leaning on Table [1915] Wikimedia Commons

“Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake.”

William James

Awakening ourselves implies the development of sensitivity, knowledge and creativity that may have lain dormant within our psyche. This demands self-awareness and an understanding of who we are and what our potential may be. It also means being more conscious, more in control of ourselves and having insight into what our unconscious motivations might be. Awakening refers to the development of wisdom in relation to our thoughts and feelings; it involves seeing the world, and ourselves, with greater lucidity and clearer perception.

In order to flourish in life and to develop at least some of our potential, we need to employ other abilities, such as persistence, commitment, courage, self-confidence, effort, resilience. We need the capacity to nurture our innate talents, to move towards new learning and to be adaptive and open to change. We also need to be able to face challenges, and remain steadfast in our determination to improve and maximise our abilities.

What is it that may hold us back from developing at least some of our potential? There may be many reasons; perhaps we are fearful of failure, or are uncertain of who we want to be or what we want to do. We may doubt our abilities, lacking self-confidence, or we might believe that we do not have the necessary opportunities to improve ourselves.

As mentioned above, it can be that our expectations are too high, so that we become afraid of taking any risks or changing our routines and habits.

It can be a kind of comforting ‘familiar unpleasant’ situation that sometimes keeps us from altering our lives, from learning new skills, ending a relationship that feels as though it has run its course, or changing jobs.

Quote 2

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner – Archers [1935-37] Flickr

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”

William Faulkner

These words encourage us to find our potential through aiming high, through reaching beyond, and challenging ourselves, not out of a sense of competition with others, but out of a desire to improve ourselves. It is very important to resist the temptation to compare ourselves with others. We need, instead, to focus on comparing our present self with who we were, and on the ways in which we functioned in the past, measuring how much we personally have made improvements.

Max Beckman – Still Life with Large Shell [1939] Wikimedia Commons

“You must decide if you are going to rob the world or bless it with the rich, valuable, potent, untapped resources locked away within you.”

 Myles Munroe

Out allotted span on earth is relatively short and very precious; this quotation highlights an important question: do we intend to spend our time on earth in a way that will add to its resources or are we going to one day depart having deprived it of some of the good things we could have left behind?

Aiming to achieve change and growth are important if we are to have fulfilling lives, to be a part of meaningful and satisfying relationships, to make our mark on the world and on other people, and become our best selves.

We can improve and develop ourselves through gaining self-awareness, practising self-care, focussing on being kind, compassionate and empathic to others’ needs as well as our own, through learning about ourselves and the world and surrounding ourselves with people who are empathic to us.

Being an inspiration to other people is also important in terms of fulfilling our obligations in life and improving ourselves at the same time. Inspiring others, through our actions and our words, modelling productive and thoughtful behaviour, are ways of spreading our influence for the benefit and learning of other people around us, whether at home or at work. This will mean that the potential we do have can help others and will have a meaningful influence on the world around us.

Quote 3

Winslow Homer – To the Rescue. 1886. Wikimedia Commons

“Great emergencies and crisis show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.”

William James

Whilst we would not wish for pain and difficult challenges, there is some truth in the fact that, during such experiences, in dark times, we can discover qualities in ourselves that we never knew we possessed. This discovery will, inevitably, be helpful to us, and to other people.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

Albert Camus

When tested in this way, we may surprise ourselves with our courage and perspicacity. We may underestimate the strength of character and abilities that we do have, until such trying and stressful times these occur.

When we have no choice but to adapt and survive, adversity can be a time of self-discovery, when we find we have hitherto unseen qualities and abilities, such as resilience, problem-solving, determination, and genuine care for other people.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Nelson Mandela

Having the mental and physical strength and tenacity to carry something through, even when we know the odds are against us, can mean that we discover hitherto untapped potentialities within ourselves. We may be fearful of pain, uncertainty, scandal or danger, yet still find we can be brave and carry on.

Perhaps we may also realise that, in some ways, the time is right for us to take risks, to really discover who we are and, at last, to call on the inner power we have.

Claude Monet. Portrait of Suzanne Hoschdé with Sunflowers. 1890. Wikimedia Commons

“It takes courage to push yourself to places you have never been before… to test your limits… to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Anais Nin

In spite of the risk of personal loss, having the commitment and belief that what we are doing is right for ourselves and for others can carry us through…

 “Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

Rollo May

Potential, as I have said,  is not static or inflexibly fixed; in time, it can grow and expand, as new learning and new experiences occur.

Robert Delaunay – Circular Forms, Sun No. 1 – 1912-13. Wikimedia Commons

“There is no planet, sun, or star could hold you if you but knew what you are.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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***To all my loyal readers: I will be taking off the month of August 2026 as annual leave from writing my blog posts. From September 1st I will resume and continue to publish new weekly posts that I have designed with you all in mind! Your continued feedback on this blog and on social media is very much appreciated and it certainly influences, encourages and helps my writing. Thank you.

With very best wishes, Linda.

© Linda Berman.