Potential Success

Today, I want to discuss your potential. We ask ourselves daily if we have reached our maximum potential. We quantify and measure our achievements and failures against our calendars, syllabi, to-do lists and outlines to see if we have accomplished our goals. We are bothered with the notion that we have not started our Christmas lists, assignments, lab reports, and other projects. While in my freshman year, sitting in an inorganic chemistry lecture, I remember learning about the “rate determining step”, which is the slowest step in a chemical reaction. If you have a chemical that explodes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, then the absence of heat keeps the explosion from ever happening. Those chemicals we refrigerate, adorn with caveats and labels, remove possible heating elements and oxidizers, and train those that work with them to practice safe handling techniques. We do these things because once the reactants rise from 299 to 300, and the reaction begins, nothing will stop it until it is complete. Recently, I just returned from a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana. This concept of potential reminds me of the NASCAR Indy 500. All the fans, with their popcorn and cokes, are in the stands. The cars, with their freshly waxed frames, are revving their turbo engines at the starting line, but the man with all the power is the guy up on the platform with the gun raised in the air. Until he fires that round, the track will remain free from the sounds of screeching tires and the smells of burning rubber. Everything waits for him, like the reaction waits for the thermometer to read 300 degrees. What can this mean about our own potential? Does it sometimes feel as if there is someone out there, handling you with extreme care and polyurethane gloves or standing over you with a raised gun and a high platform, keeping you from starting down your own track toward success? The pivotal questions are: If the reaction happens or the race begins, are you equipped to handle the consequences? Have you cleared a space in your house? Where will you put your trophy? Take inventory of your life. What’s holding you back may not always be your lack of preparation for your goals, but for resulting success.