The Potential Within Us All: A Moment With Bill Reflection

There are dangers beyond those hills; fierce creatures and bloodthirsty savages, eager to tear your flesh and leave you as so much carrion on the sun-drenched valley floor. You must not risk it, boy, for surely horrors will rain down upon you and leave you a distant memory to those who once you knew. Cast aside those foolish dreams of far horizons and majestic mysteries; they are but siren songs that lure you to your death. Yes boys and girls, there are dangers beyond those hills.

And for you others, man was not meant to fly. Far too much weight you imbeciles; the aerodynamics are all wrong; no uplift exists sufficient to raise two-hundred pounds of dead weight into the heavens. Flap with foolishness and attempt in vain to catch the updraft, for all that awaits you is an unceremonious verification of physics that will leave you bent, broken, bleeding and lifeless. No boys and girls, man was not meant to fly.

You are safe here now so hush. Cast aside those foolish thoughts and nestle among those of us who seek the comfort of conformity and the blessed peace of the mundane. There is safety in numbers here, and although certainly not exciting by any means there is a great deal to be said for the mind-numbing utopia of the bland.

With eyes fixed upon a limitless horizon they are willing to venture further than the length of their sight, stretching their reach beyond their beginnings, gambling that there must be more, there has to be more, than the embracing of the status quo. They spread their wings while others are totally unaware of the existence of those wings, and with wings spread they race for the precipice and leap into the air. Often they crash, but each time they rise to try once more, and once more after that, and again, again, leaping, crashing, healing, only to leap again….until…..

Soaring alone on that threatening wind, pain awaits them below and the joy of infinity calls them from above, spiraling they go on a heated lift, backs arched, heads lifted, in hopes of catching just one glimpse of the gods of lore. Be fearless now, for you are so close….go boldly now, for you have broken your bonds….

Circling and diving as they test the limits of this newfound freedom, casting aside reality, embracing illusions, blowing apart the accepted ways of thinking, these are the seekers, the risk-takers, those who do not understand or accept anything that aims to place limitations upon others. Tell them they cannot do something and they will spend every waking moment to prove you wrong. Explain to them the restrictions of physics and they will tell you to stuff your slide rule. They are propelled by an engine of faith; their fuel is hope and their transmission a series of gear sets comprised of restlessness and dissatisfaction.

They are among us now; few in number for sure; misunderstood often most definitely; and absolutely essential if we are to advance as a species.

He is the little first grader who is convinces that a square peg will fit in a round hole, and makes it his life’s mission to prove that anything is possible.

She is the fifteen-year old poet who can’t imagine life without the beauty of words. She would rather write sonnets than hang at the Mall with friends.

He is the neighborhood daredevil. He has never seen a tree he could not scale, a creek he could not cross, or a curb he could not jump with his racing bike. “Life is to be lived” he says and he lives it to the fullest daily.

She is the ten-year old who takes apart your microwave because there are questions she needs answered, and she knows instinctively that the best education is experience. She sees no reason why the world’s next great discovery should not be hers.

They are millions in number and they are the game-changers of the future. New music, new art, new experiments and new formulas, all grist from their mental mills for us to enjoy and benefit from and where, oh where, would we be without them?

100,000 heartbeats per day; over 35,000,000 heartbeats per year; each one counts, of course, for the heart is our engine propelling us through life….but how many of those heartbeats are lived to the fullest in a lifetime?

For those mentioned above, each heartbeat builds upon the last and is the foundation for the next, and each heartbeat is essential if their dreams are to be recognized, and they plunge forward, squeezing every ounce of life out of life, for they know that to do less is to cheat themselves of an opportunity all have but few utilize.

Yes, an opportunity all have, and therein lies a secret we are all told at birth but rarely act upon…..we have nearly unlimited potential.

Momma rocks us in her hap and places gentle, loving kisses upon our heads, and we hear the words whispered to us, you are wonderful, you are beautiful, you will be deliriously successful, the horizons are limitless, and we smile and coo and for sure we believe those words, and visions of grandeur entertain us as childhood turns into the teen years, and…..adulthood…..and the gentle, loving kisses and the whispered words are no more, replaced by harsh reality and a suspicion that perhaps those whispered words were lies……

Or a worse realization, that those whispered words were true but we dropped the proverbial ball and allowed our potential to wither and die a slow, agonizing death.

We wasted our most precious gift.

How much time do you have left? The fact is you do not know. Today? A month? Ten years?

Is there enough time left? Is there enough time left to take your square peg and start finding a way to make it fit in the round hole? Is there enough time left to climb one more tree, take apart one more microwave, or write one more sonnet? Is there enough time left to realize your potential?

Of course there is, starting now, but will you begin? Will you pick up that proverbial ball, dribble it between your legs and go for the slam dunk, or sit on the sidelines wishing the star of the game looked like you?

There are dangers beyond those hills; fierce creatures and bloodthirsty savages, eager to tear your flesh and leave you as so much carrion on the sun-drenched valley floor. To risk that kind of figurative dismemberment takes bravery. To push aside the past, silence the inner voices, and grab that which was yours by birthright takes fortitude the likes of which you may not even know you have…but you do have it….and you must use it….or risk losing it forever.

You have one chance. This lifetime is that chance. Can you see the limitless horizon, or is your vision blocked by the events of the past?

2014 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)...dedicated to the love of my life....Bev