What We’re Capable Of

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems. - Mahatma Gandhi

This quote makes me feel a lot of things – sad, mad, guilty, kicked in the butt. Right now, at this very moment, I am most certainly not doing everything I can. Heck, I’m not even doing everything I want. Of the seven deadly sins, mine right now is sloth. What could I do if I did what I could? What heights could I achieve if I did what I wanted to succeed and create and affect the world, rather than playing games and watching old TV shows? The number of books I could read, the number of books I could write, how soon I could pay off my car loan, how fat I could make my bank account, how many works of art I could create that are swirling around in my brain but just haven’t quite yet made it onto paper. It’s stunning. It really is stunning. And I’m a little afraid of it all. I’m wrapped up all cozy and warm in my comfort zone. Heck, I have a little hidey hole under my stairs where I keep my computer and phone. What more do I need? It’s frightening to think of doing this for the next five years, and it’s frightening to think of where and what I could be if I shook off the chains of sloth and became truly me. What could I be?

Part of me says, “Oh, you won’t be doing this for five years. You’ll snap out of it and start being you again.” Then I think about where I was five years ago. My computer and TV weren’t under the stairs, but they were in a cave-like atmosphere that I rarely left without prompting. I’m really not that far from where I was five years ago when it comes to that. And it’s easy to say, “Things will be different in five years”, but unless I do something, they won’t be. It’s amazing how time will slip by when you don’t put any energy into making something different.

We’re all amazing people. We just need to get rid of a few chains to let our light shine forth.