Potential. When I was younger, my parents used to tell me all the time that I had potential. “We just want you to work hard and fulfill your potential. You have so much potential.”  I realize now that it is a word that parents like to use when referring to their children as I hear it all the time at parent teacher conferences. Parents tell me their child can do so much better if they would just work harder as they have so much potential. Sometimes, I say to the parents, “I think your son could do so much better. I see a lot of potential.”  My wife and I have used the word potential referring to our children, “I hope they can grow up and fulfill their potential.”

I looked up the word potential on dictionary.com to get the formal definition. Here it is: possible, as opposed to actual or capable of being or becoming. So, potential is what could be and not what has been. It’s a maybe, we’ll see, possibly, a chance, could happen. While it can be something negative, when I think of potential, it can be summed up in one word – hope. What could be is almost more exciting than what is. Let me check my facebook, any phone messages, any mail, did I get a text? Who knows what tomorrow brings?  It’s the beauty of possibility of wonderful, of something greater? If you think about it, potential is a beautiful word as it allows you to deal with today with the hope of a better tomorrow.

I bought a lottery ticket the other day. Well, actually my wife bought it for me. When she buys tickets for herself, she often buys scratchoffs which generally have a maximum payout of 100,000.00. This would certainly be a nice prize – could buy a couple of pizzas with that. When I buy the occasional lottery ticket, I am a mega millions sort of guy. I want to win baby! Give me that whole enchilada!  By the way, I happen to love pizza and Mexican food, but that’s another story.  Anyway, the drawing was Friday, and I have yet to check my numbers. You see once I check them, the gig is up. No more potential. The need to work and worry about bills reality sets in. So, I think I will hold off one more day to check that lottery ticket. I have potential!