The Origin - What Can I Do?
If you had a seed in your hand, and you were told that the end of that seed already exists, will you believe it? If so, where is that end currently?
The future of every seed is already created; its end is hidden inside it. A mango seed does not become a mango tree because people clapped for it, rewarded it, or called it special. It already carries that future within itself. But if that same seed is planted in the wrong ground, ignored, or never watered, what it carries may never be fully seen. Human beings are similar to that seed. When we ask, “What can I do?” , we are not only asking what skill can make money, what talent people praise, or what looks impressive. We are asking what has already been placed within us that may still be hidden, undeveloped, ignored, or planted in the wrong ground. Potential is what you carry before it is fully visible.
There is an excerpt from the poem "The Ladder of St. Augustine" by Henry Wadsworth, which says: “The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night.” This excerpt says a lot. The people who eventually stand out do not always get there because they are more special than everyone else. Many times, they simply paid attention to what others ignored. They worked on what they carried when nobody was watching. They were willing to grow quietly before life placed them where others could see them. And this part is very important.
Knowing you have potential is not enough. Many of us already know we can do more, but we give up because the environment does not reward it, and in some cases, it threatens it. People around you will call it unserious, unrealistic, not profitable, or simply caution you to stay in you lane . After a while, doubt sets in and that dream or potential is let go. Anything valuable must be tested for authenticity and the test of potential is whether you can keep growing it when nobody is clapping for it yet.
People who discover what they truly carry often become comfortable living like an eagle. Not lonely in a bitter way, and not idle, but comfortable enough to be by themselves. Comfortable enough to think deeply. To observe. To pay careful attention what's within and around them. To sit with their thoughts without being engaged in one activity or the next. This kind of still behaviour matters because potential is not discovered in a crowd. Many times, it is discovered in quiet places, through discipline, reflection, pressure, correction, and the willingness to keep growing even when no one knows your name. A lot of us miss it at this point. We live in a time where potential is often judged by how quickly it can be seen, packaged, monetized, praised, or posted. If something does not bring quick attention, people assume it is not valuable. If it does not look like what society is rewarding, people abandon it and start copying what seems to be working for someone else. If we wanted to take a practical test for the level of authenticity in our environment today, what would be your final rating? When you take a glance at the media, the entertainment industry, the trends, the innovations, what does your guts say? Well mine concludes that society rewards noise over depth. Speed over process. Image over substance. Imitation over originality. If you are not careful, you may stop watering your own seed and spend years trying to look like someone else’s tree. This is where comparison sets in and people develop a herd-like mind. They'd spend so much time trying to sound like, talk like, dress like, think like, post like, and even dream like that one idolized figure, until they slowly lose touch with their own identity and reality. Unfortunately, we live in a world that mostly shows the fruit and hides the root, and if you're a superficial thinker, you may start to compare someone else's fruit with your root. This is where it becomes deeply psychological: You may begin to call your own seed small. You may begin to call your own process too slow. You may begin to call your own environment useless. You may begin to call your own “much” nothing.
Reflection
“To whom much is given, much is expected” You may have heard this quote before. Typically we interpret as something to be done when you've reached a particular level of wealth or capacity. As a result, many people will say that they have nothing, simply because they are comparing what they carry to what society calls “much.” Nonetheless, this quote does not only apply to people with the highest material wealth, the biggest platform, or the most popular name. We all have a “much.”
Someone is praying for the access you keep ignoring. Someone is praying for the mind you keep underusing. Someone is praying for the time, strength, family, skill, opportunity, idea, or small opening you keep calling “not enough.” So when we ask, “What can I do?” , we are also asking what we have been given that we have not taken seriously enough to grow. Potential is not just what you carry. It is what you are responsible for developing before the world understands why it matters. Like the seed, our future is already within us. But it is the ground we are planted in, the discipline we develop, the patience we carry, and the purpose we understand that will protect and determine whether that future is revealed or wasted.