The beauty about being human is that each and every one of us is born with unlimited potentials. The tragedy that befalls most of us is that this is not recognized and instead of bringing out these potentials, we systematically and methodically destroy them by denying them space to sprout and to grow. For a potential to be recognized, passion has to be ignited. For passion to be ignited, interests have to be explored. For interests to be explored, time has to be in one’s control. For time to be in one’s control, one must be in control of one’s life.

find your potential, walk the path...... (pic by vidya)

But for most of us, that is the last thing that we are able to do – to be in control of our lives because all our lives we have had other people dictate to us what we should do and what we should not do. We resign ourselves to this kind of monotonous but safe route to living a good life by having a good job that pays for everything that we might want. But deep down, we feel a certain emptiness – an emptiness of not realizing our full potentials.

What exactly is this thing called “potential”?  It is our innate goodness that given the right motivation and environment, we will strive to bring it forth for the shared happiness with others.

Steve Jobs inspired us to think different. He had big dreams to change the way we live and work through innovative technology.

John Holt captured the imagination of parents and educators to think differently about learning and education. He inspired us to teach our own, simply because, we can and we should!

JK Rowling inspired millions of potential writers to keep on writing because success can come even at a later age.  She never dreamed that her children’s novel about a boy becoming a wizard would be such a phenomenal hit worldwide. But it did!

Susan Boyle can attest to that as she was miraculously propelled to stardom after her audition in a talent contest at a ripe age of 50. When Simon Cowell asked her why she did not try out at a younger age, she just replied that opportunity just did not arise for her then.

Amrita Soon (15) wants to be a singer-songwriter, not in 10 years time, or after college (“that seems like a zillion years away!” but now. Right now. Why? Because she can. Because she wants to. Because she has found what she truly wants to do with her life at this moment.

Can she make it in this highly competitive world? Well, she believes she can. And we believe she has all the ingredients for success: vision, perseverance and the courage to face her mistakes, and learn from them.

Some may ask, “What if she does make it?”, Well then it becomes another great opportunity for learning as well!  What is as important about discovering one’s potential is the journey.

That’s a tall order for a 15-year-old, but because she was given the freedom to explore and discover her potentials, and because she was brought up to be enterprising and to be fearless when confronting challenges, she is all set to nurture her potentials in singing and song-writing to the highest possible level.