Power Thoughts: Born with Potential

“What the mind believes the mind achieves. What you visualize, you can carry out. What you think, you become. What you concentrate your attention on, you can attract.”

Many of us have come to the conclusion that we cannot have the “good life” without that perfect family, perfect job, perfect parents, perfect children, perfect spouse, ideal client, beautiful dream home, luxury cars, vacation on a private island, multiple streams of income, a Fortune 500 business, and if we weren’t born into wealth, have a bachelor’s degree or hit a jackpot then we aren’t entitled to the abundant life.

Who told you that you couldn’t have it all?

Our minds are powerful, and yet, many people don’t know how to use it for their benefit. You can succeed in achieving any goal, and it all boils down to your mind and how much control you have over it.

If we allow our minds to keep us stuck in procrastinating mode, we will never reach the full potential that is on the inside of us. Our minds can limit us, but we can stop thinking limiting thoughts, and instead, teach our minds to think bigger, positive thoughts. Everything that enters into the mind enters in as “a thought” so if you want the things I mentioned above, then think more highly of yourselves. I believe God knew we would allow our minds to control us instead of us managing our minds.

“Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”-Romans 12:2 (NLT)

With that being said, we all, from time to time, need to take a few moments to find ourselves throughout the busyness and noisiness of this world. But, what do you do when everything and everyone is calling your attention? Yes, it can sometimes feel like your mind is all over the place, and the world is on your shoulders. And, yes sometimes it can feel as if everyone looks to you to do everything for them. As a result, you don’t have enough time for yourself to even connect with the Almighty One for the awareness of the potential He wants you to use to be the solution to someone else’s problem.

I’ve had so many distractions beg for my attention and focus that I had to make an intentional decision to avoid scrolling through social media, watching the Lifetime Channel, checking emails or talking on the phone. I had to close my mind off to any and everything that was trying to keep me from hearing the voice of God and tap into the potential He has inside of me. I refuse to allow distractions of this world keep me from fully living the life I deserve. We can be so distracted by this world that it takes time away for more important things such as family, our spiritual growth, self- development, and most importantly God’s Word. And for many of us, we even have difficulty getting to sleep because we can’t stop thinking about the tasks that lie ahead.

On the other hand, however, life can indeed be difficult and challenging. It is important to know that we ALL need a vision for our lives. Many people are carelessly living a life without a vision, and by doing so their experience has been difficult, unobtainable, and a life that quickly spins into moral chaos. How can someone with no vision or direction for their life lead themselves, better yet, lead anyone else for that matter?

The Bible tells us that “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

“A man without a vision is a man without a future. A man without a future will always return to his past.”

Moving forward as a writer, I not only depend on God to give me the words to say, but I also rely on Him to show me how to tell them so that I am not judgmental to others. I depend on Him to lead me to get my point across to the reader. To do so, I have to clear my mind of all negativity and thoughts that don’t serve me in any way.

In the same token, however, I always wonder what goes on in the mind of an “artist” as they begin to draw and paint that perfect masterpiece. Below is an excerpt from an article by artistsnetwork.com:

“Being reminded of the purpose, or concept that motivated us to paint a specific subject or scene is key to evolving as an artist, once technical mastery is achieved. Without purpose, it’s easy to fall prey to technical perfection that’s devoid of feeling. It may look exactly like the scene, but it says very little. Practice may get an artist to Carnegie Hall, but it is the passion that produces rave reviews.”

When I was in middle school, I had a conversation with my art teacher. I complained to him, asking “How do I have the passion for being an artist, but I don’t know how to draw?” I remember him saying one thing that has stuck with me for many years. He said, “Draw what you see, and not what you think you see.” Many of us could take that advice in several different ways. As a middle schooler, and throughout the rest of my life, I interpreted it like this: I have the potential to do whatever it is I want to do. If I believe it, then I, too, can draw the masterpiece that’s displayed in my mind.

This powerful metaphor has a profound impact on my life, and now I can look at life from a different perspective. This applies to how I interpret and analyze art, writing and even new visions for my life. It indeed provided clarity, purpose and a new way of seeing myself as God sees me.

I have learned that we are all born with potential on the inside of us. We need to tap into it by seeking the Holy Spirit because God was the One who created the potential in us in the first place. It’s a spiritual thing! Creating what you want out of life will provide you with direction and momentum to move forward. If you have laid out your goal and a plan with a realistic and worthy vision for your life ahead, you will notice how differently you will perceive and react to things.

So, the question becomes this: How do you go about getting back in charge of your thoughts? How can you decide to stop letting the distractions of this world run away with you?

Recently, I read a book called “Understanding Your Potential” by Dr. Myles Monroe, and he said, “All God’s plans for your life were set out long before you took a breath. He wrote out the order of your days before you lived even one day (Psalm 139:16). There’s a book on you. Some chapters God wrote about you haven’t even been touched yet. Some of you are playing around in the index, or you have spent years in the table of contents. Perhaps you are 30 years old, and you still don’t know God’s plan for your life. That’s playing around on the contents page. You are 30 years old and still wondering what you are supposed to be. You haven’t even started yet. Others have jumped ahead of God’s plan. Though His design calls for you to be married in chapter 17, you got married in chapter two. You have ignored the things God wanted you to learn and experience in chapters 2 through 16 so you would be prepared for marriage in chapter 17. You have missed out on many experiences and discoveries because you moved ahead of God’s schedule. Some people are so busy peeking into chapter 17 they don’t have time to live chapters 2 and 3 and 4… Or perhaps you have pulled chapter 17 into chapter 2 so that the rest of the book is destroyed. You will never have the opportunity to experience all the chapters if you pull parts of later chapters into the early ones.”

I have learned that understanding the word “desire” is key. “Being interested in or attracted to something is not desiring it. To desire means “to crave” for something at the expense of losing everything.” Personally, that craving is the Holy Spirit; I cannot move forward without vision, potential, purpose or discovering the hidden me inside of Christ.

So be fearless. Don’t be afraid of who you are. Don’t run from God’s plan for your life because your future doesn’t begin in the next five years from now. Your future starts in the next hour, minute and seconds from now! Everything else from this point is now your past. Because we have not tapped into the full potential that Christ has placed on the inside of us, let’s start this new journey by tapping into our potential and see ourselves as Christ sees us!