LifePOWER

Principle #1 – Potential

Potential! An Overrated Attribute

Guess What? Potential Is Overrated! I know that statement might shock you, but it is so true. And here is true story about me to prove it. Some people feel that I am the smartest person they know. I do not say that with hubris or conceit. It simply is the opinion of some people. (If you know me and disagree, that is okay!) These people, however, are certain that I have one of the greatest minds they have encountered. For example, my life-long friend, Vikki Johnson often introduces me as “a genius.” I think she stretches the truth here a bit; but I’m convinced that she thinks I’m pretty smart! If you can find a copy of, Tales Out of School, a book written by my high school AP English teacher Dr. Patrick Welch, you’ll find that he agrees with what I’m about to tell you. After noting how I boldly told him that I would be in his AP English class in the coming year, he says,

“From the beginning, she was one of my favorites. Veda looked you straight in the eye and said exactly what was on her mind. The fact that she was only one of three black students in an AP class of thirty-one didn’t seem to faze her a bit. When I asked a question or called for a volunteer, her hand was one of the first to go up. As the year went on her writing improved dramatically . . . and she qualified for college credit on the AP English exam.” (Tales Out of School, pp. 80, 82)

My track and field coach, Bill Yoast – yes, the one from Remember the Titans – wrote some of these same things in his book Remember This Titan, as well. Coach (as we called them) had this to say about me:

“Veda Nicely was one of those Blue Chippers that needed a little extra help. As a hurdler she was as good as it got . . . [s]he was as smart as she was fast and that meant honors classes.” (Remember This Titan, p. 134).

Now, I don’t think that I am a genius. I would say that I am gifted intellectually. My mother used to tell me that my brother Jeffrey had me reading before I started nursery school. (Another reason, I’m an advocate for childhood literacy starting at home, BEFORE pre-school. But that’s another book!) So, now that you’re thinking I am a pompous boaster, let me explain why I opened my book with Principle #1 – Potential. The first thing you must come to understand is that having potential does not mean anything. This fact was true of me as I have sojourned through life, and it might be of you as well. Allow me to explain a bit more. In my life, I have been given many, many, many opportunities to capitalize on my “potential” and my God-given gift of a great mind. But I have not always “lived up” to my potential, because I thought my potential was somehow my ticket to success. Great things were just supposed to happen for me, just because I was smart. In school, I took honors and AP classes. I took the AP English exam and tested out of freshman-college English. I came from a good home and had a wealth of support. Success should have just fallen into my lap. But it didn’t. Potential does not work that way. It didn’t for me, and it won’t for you.