Meeting my "Potential"
Have you ever had a day where you just...wanted to shout out your righteous indignation at something?
A few months back, I went to church at my parent's ward.
I don't usually do this. I've moved out, have my own congregation that I attend, and thus, do not attend with my parents anymore.
However, I was home for the weekend and so...I went. Because, I am a good Mormon girl, and you don't skip out on church on Sunday.
Looking back, I probably should have just gone back to my apartment Saturday night.
There I was sitting in Sunday School, trying to not get riled at the topic of the day. We were talking about Alma 39, which, I admit, would be a hard subject to teach on. But, instead of focusing on the positives, on the teaching moments between a father and his son or the repentant nature of Corianton, the entire class kept talking about potential. And how disappointed Alma must have been that Corianton didn't reach his potential.
Oh, boy, did that get me riled up. Who on EARTH has the right to decide what MY potential is? No one. No one but me and my Father in Heaven know exactly what I have the potential to become and what it is going to take to get me there. The path that I take to reach my potential is probably nothing close to what my parents had mapped out for me when I was thought up as their second-born all those years ago. More than that, the things that I KNOW to be my potential are probably not even CLOSE to what my parents would have picked out for me.
Are there people out there who see what I am doing and think that I am wasting my potential? You bet. Are there people out there who see me and think, "gee, I wish she would just settle down and be what I know she can be."
But, you know what, I am who I know I am supposed to be. More than that, I am who I know my Heavenly Father wants me to be. And that is what meeting my potential means to me. I don't have anyone to impress but Him. And in the end, that, truly, is success.
A few months back, I went to church at my parent's ward.
I don't usually do this. I've moved out, have my own congregation that I attend, and thus, do not attend with my parents anymore.
However, I was home for the weekend and so...I went. Because, I am a good Mormon girl, and you don't skip out on church on Sunday.
Looking back, I probably should have just gone back to my apartment Saturday night.
There I was sitting in Sunday School, trying to not get riled at the topic of the day. We were talking about Alma 39, which, I admit, would be a hard subject to teach on. But, instead of focusing on the positives, on the teaching moments between a father and his son or the repentant nature of Corianton, the entire class kept talking about potential. And how disappointed Alma must have been that Corianton didn't reach his potential.
Oh, boy, did that get me riled up. Who on EARTH has the right to decide what MY potential is? No one. No one but me and my Father in Heaven know exactly what I have the potential to become and what it is going to take to get me there. The path that I take to reach my potential is probably nothing close to what my parents had mapped out for me when I was thought up as their second-born all those years ago. More than that, the things that I KNOW to be my potential are probably not even CLOSE to what my parents would have picked out for me.
Are there people out there who see what I am doing and think that I am wasting my potential? You bet. Are there people out there who see me and think, "gee, I wish she would just settle down and be what I know she can be."
But, you know what, I am who I know I am supposed to be. More than that, I am who I know my Heavenly Father wants me to be. And that is what meeting my potential means to me. I don't have anyone to impress but Him. And in the end, that, truly, is success.
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