Love the Person, Not the Potential

Potential is like a drug. It’s potent. It’s exciting.

By definition, potential is the capacity for growth, development, or future success that hasn’t been realized yet. It’s the gap between where someone is and where they could be.

And that’s why it’s so attractive. It gives us a vision of the future. It taps into hope.

Because of its power, most people get opportunities not because of their current skills or actions, but because of their potential.

And I get it. There might not be anything more thrilling than seeing someone who could be the next big thing and then develop into it.

But potential is not the person. Your job isn’t to love their potential. It’s to love the person. I love Bishop Robert Barron’s definition of love: “to will the good of another.”
Your job is to will the good of another, regardless of what their potential can do for you.

Love them when they’re rising.
Love them when they’re struggling.
Love them when they’re far from the person they could be.

Because potential can fade, potential can be wasted and certainly potential can be delayed.

But people are worth pouring into, regardless of what they can give to you.

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