What is your potential?
So what is this thing called potential? If you look it up in the
dictionary you’ll find that it stems from the Latin root,
potentialis which means power or potency. Potential is further
defined as something that is capable of development into
actuality. Could we say then that "living up to our potential"
means coming to terms with our power and manifesting it in the
world? Could we say that "living up to our potential" is the
process in which we remove blocks that prevent us from
expressing our full power?
What prevents us from expressing our potential?
What prevents us from expressing this power or potential is
individual to each of us. We all have ways of blocking
life-force energy from flowing through us; blocking our power
and potential from manifesting fully. As a transpersonal
psychotherapist and professional astrologer I see this so
vividly in my work with clients. The brilliance of astrology is
that it can really help a person connect not only with their
gifts but also with how they tend to block or distort the power
that is available to them to manifest those gifts in the world.
In other words, to be able to manifest the gifts of our birth we
must release the blocks that restrict the flow of essence
("higher" power) through the vehicle of our personality.
Tapping into our power or inherent potential.
Dane Rudhyar, the father of the psychospiritual approach
to astrology, has said that our "essential nature is represented
by the patterns of energy produced by the angular relationships
between the ten planets." These angular relationships or
aspects, particularly the more stressful ones, can be vitally
helpful and can actually inform us on how to act in order to
actualize our potential or power. By understanding and accepting
the challenging aspects in our charts, then, we can begin to
experience the power and dynamism that is hidden there. Each of
the challenging series of aspects is a literal call to action; a
powerful dynamo of energy that demands us to pay attention and
work on ways of resolving the conflicting needs of the planets
involved. It is through the call to action of the challenging
aspects that we really begin to tap into our power or inherent
potential.
Manifesting your potential in the world.
By understanding and accepting the conflicting needs of the
planetary energies we can begin to dis-identify with the more
problematic manifestations and identify with the transformative
power inherent in them that wants to manifest in our lives. To
me, this process of resolving the blocks to manifesting our
power is an expression of our willingness to let the "higher"
power flow through us. As we become clearer channels for this
"higher" power we become more capable of expressing and
manifesting our unique gifts in the world. Although this can be
challenging work, as we may have to confront aspects of
ourselves that we may find hard to accept, I believe that the
rewards of greater aliveness and being more able to fully
express our power and potential are well worth the effort!
