Bring Forth What is In You-Daily Meditation 12.20.22

Today’s quotation:

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.  If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.-Jesus of Nazareth

Today’s Meditation:

This is a fascinating thing to say about potential.  We all have fantastic potential, but how many bring it into our everyday lives?  And how many of us destroy ourselves because of how we see our undeveloped potential and the feelings of disappointment and dissatisfaction that come up because we know that we’re leaving our potential buried deep within us?

“What is within” us is genuinely unique, and one of humanity’s biggest shames is that we keep it buried within ourselves rather than letting it out so that it can benefit others.  We keep ourselves hidden because we fear rejection, failure, or success. We never once admit to ourselves that keeping our potential hidden is one of the most effective forms of selfishness.  And I say that not in judgment but in acknowledgment of my own behavior in years past.  Because I kept my potential bottled up inside myself for so long, I spent years not giving to others things that I might have given, years not risking things that weren’t all that risky.

Our potential can save us.  Realizing our potential can show us self-worth and help us develop self-confidence and self-reliance.  If we bring it forth, we can enrich our lives and those around us. At the same time, if we keep it hidden and never let it see the light, our lives will grow dark and dim as we slowly but surely destroy ourselves by allowing our fears to carry us into the dark recesses of frustration, disappointment, and lack of fulfillment.

Questions to consider:

In which areas does your greatest potential lie?

Why might we fear so much when thinking about reaching our potential?

How can bringing forth what is in you save you?

For further thought:

Most people live physically, intellectually, or morally in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make minimal use of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a person who, out of his or her whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his or her little finger.-William James.