Slow Down
Do you ever feel that life is something that needs to be caught up with? Like competition that needs to be met with and gets stronger every day? Something I’ve been dealing with is the word “potential” - I HATE it! I always imagined potential as a rubber band, being held back and aimed. The rubber band, retracted, fills the room with anticipation. When will it fire? How far will it go forward? How long will it get pulled back? All these questions, but no answers until that potential gets propelled forward. Some of us never shoot the rubber band. Maybe we think it’ll be too boring and won’t impress anyone how far it’ll go, maybe we’re worried people will be disappointed it didn’t launch far enough - but do you know what I think is the worst thing to do with the rubber band? To just holster it, put it in your pocket and walk away. I’ve learned that it isn’t about launching one rubber band, but launching many. You may experiment and find a new technique to launch them further. You may find out a specific type of rubber band you prefer. But either way, the more rubber bands you launch, the more experience you gain, and you find ways to make them go further.
The idea of “infinite” versions of me, messed with me for a very long time. “What if I’m the worst version of me?” was a thought I’d have frequently. It didn’t benefit me to think that way. I’ve recently had a mindset change and thought about “if there are infinite versions of me, I could’ve been anybody. Martial artist, film director, programmer, etc. I met all these different versions of me, how would I explain to them what version I am?”. I realized there is no “worst” version, no such thing! I am just the “x” version and X would be represent your interests - not characteristics. This way it can’t be tied to the “lazy” version, rather it’d be the “astronaut” version.
All of this to say, I’ve always had a hard time with my potential. Whether it be in the grand scale of the universe in it’s infinite realities or the smaller scale of day-to-day life, I’ve always felt there’s some kind of grand prophecy that I’m meant to fulfill. The mere thought of fulfilling something grand and world-changing, is daunting and put fear in my heart. Which is ironic, because the idea of doing all of the things I’m doing is meant to fulfill a childhood dream of mine - “I want to be written in the books one day. I want to change the world for the better”. But when I pivoted my mindset on facing my “potential” head-on and allow myself to experiment with different techniques and things to try out, I learned what I really want to do. When I change my view on the universe, I can focus more on my interests rather than my perception of my character - it made my experiments to be “for fun”, rather than “fulfilling a prophecy”. Slowing down and enjoying the minutiae of life allows us to face the choices we make and puts our feet back down to Earth.
Take time today to enjoy who you are and how you’ve made it this far. Don’t lose your childlike wonder and continue to keep exploring who you are, in this reality
