Was going through my old writing and found this. Original date was February 12, 2023.

It feels good to exist as potential, whether you’re a kid with a “bright future” or you’re just entering the workforce.

What nobody tells you is that the process of converting your potential into reality is always disappointing. Possibilities are always infinite while reality is finite. You’re going to struggle walking down any road you choose, and choosing a road means you sacrifice all your other possibilities.

This is why it’s tempting to not try, to not commit to anything. It feels good to be full of potential rather than to engage in the grinding, discouraging, sometimes-straight-up-depressing work of turning your potential into something tangible.

But there’s an expiration date. Potential doesn’t last forever. It has a short shelf life. And when it goes bad, you’re stuck with nothing. So you might as well embrace the suck, might as well do what you can with what you have, right now.

Convert your comforting dreams of potential into reality and you shall receive the tangible, real rewards of the world.