The person in the mirror.

There is someone identical to you, staring back at you.

You look at the mirror and see everything as exactly as it is supposed to be.

Yet, why does it feel so different?

People around you tell you how good, you are doing in life.

But, you stare at yourself in the mirror— all distressed and dissatisfied.

You see you, but not exactly you.

Physically—it’s identical.

Mentally and emotionally, not exactly.

You feel discontentment for where you are standing in life.

You might even be frustrated for the mirror itself not being of what you desired to look like.

You see yourself, but you also see your potential slipping away.

Deep down, you already know why.

You wish. You desire. You want.

But you don't put in the work.

So who can you blame but yourself?

You have always felt, with unprecedented confidence, you were meant for something big.

You have envisioned yourself at your highest.

You have imagined the best possible life for yourself.

You believed you had dedicated yourself to reaching your highest potential. Or so you thought.

If you had been so dedicated then why are you yet to reach that peak.

Life happens.

No one can stop it nor make it forever go the way you want it to go.

The sun rises then it sets. The seasons change.

The standing or even the status of life itself changes.

Yet, with such changes, how come you seem to change yet stay the same.

Same old, always desiring, wanting and wishing- but never to be the one to make it happen.

You seem to be attached to the ups and downs in your life.

You seem to make it your identity and your personality.

You attach yourself to your circumstances instead of simply experiencing them.

If you were truly living, you would let experiences pass through you instead of letting them define you.

Yet, your past seems to linger.

Past becomes your key to make excuses and deflect from putting in that work.

What has the past hardship got to do with your present- when it doesn’t exist anymore.

Why are you not able to let go and holding on to the pain that is not actively happening now?

What does the struggles in past got to do with your present when you ain’t struggling now?

Why are you worrying about the future that’s yet to come?

So, what is stopping you from becoming the ‘change’ itself?

If not then, your potential will always be your potential, but only in your head.

Imagination is not the reality.

It can become one, but not without putting in work.

It also necessarily doesn’t mean, you ain’t doing nothing in life.

You might be working- but at the job you don’t even like.

You might be staying in the room- that you wished was bigger.

You might be eating- but wished it was something fancy, not some stale and soggy leftover.

You might be wearing clothes- but wished it to be of certain brand.

Does that means, you let yourself grumble about what you have in present for what you could have in future?

Absolutely not!!!!

You have worked hard, and pretty privileged to have basic necessities for daily living.

But, there remains a question- is it enough?

Big dreams and big goals also come with big sacrifices.

I know this because I’ve lived it myself.

Wanting and desiring is easy.

But, making it happen takes real effort.

Being grateful for what we have, yet wanting something more can co-exist together.

You did put in work, for which you have what will make you survive.

But, if you are content with what you have then why desire of something more?

Why wish and want everything, but get nothing done?

If you have the ability to desire, then the ability to make it happen is also there.

All that is needed is to put in the hours.

Comfort will give you easy life, but not your highest growth.

But have you put in enough work—that will make you reach the highest you have desired?

Are you willing to refuse to settle for less?

Are you willing to fight for the person you want to become?

Tomorrow, you'll stand in front of that same mirror again.

The question isn't whether your reflection has changed.

The question is whether you have.

Because potential isn't something you see in the mirror.

It's something you build every single day.