Potential

I came across two quotations today that seem to go together. The first is by William James and it speaks to our vast potential of which we are not normally aware:

I have no doubt whatever that most people live, whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness... much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.... We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream.

Now look at this one by Václav Havel about what will really change the world:

Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better in the sphere of our being as humans... The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility.

If we just begin to realize the potential of consciousness that lies within each of us, we can make our genuine contribution to change for the better. Don't ever give in to the temptation to believing that your meditation is somehow just for you - that it's selfish. It is not. It is part of the shift of worldwide consciousness that is necessary for us to survive as a species. Don't give up!