Why Falling For Someone’s ‘Potential’ Is Simply Not Enough

 Sophia Sinclair
Sophia Sinclair

Potential is just a word we use when we know the truth but we want to buy ourselves more time.

Potential is the word we give those who are unsure about us.

Potential is the word that gives us hope in a rather hopeless situation.

And potential is sometimes what really holds us back, what keeps us in the dark and what we base our feelings on.

But the problem with potential is that it’s subjective, it’s based on our opinions and what we think of someone, it’s based on who we think this person could be, not who they really are.

In other words, potential is the imagination we want to bring to life. Potential is the illusion we wish could turn into reality.

We fall for people’s potential, we think our relationship has potential, we wait for people who are not giving us what we want because they have potential and we hold on to almost relationships because they could potentially lead to a real one.

Potential is also one-sided. Only one person sees the potential in the other, in what could be, in a future that’s based on only what one person wants.

Potential means nothing without effort, without communication, without actions and it means nothing when you don’t have anything more, when you don’t have something tangible other than made up projections in your head.

We have been falling for potentials most of our lives but it’s time we stop and fall for what’s real, for the things we can see and feel, for the communication that soothes our anxiety and lets us know what we mean to someone, for actions that make us feel like we both are on the same page, that our expectations are met and that what we have is not just imaginary, it’s not fake, it’s not an almost or a maybe.

Potential may be good at the very beginning, but there comes a point when potential alone is not enough and there comes a point when holding on to this potential will break your heart.

Next time, when you fall for someone’s potential, ask yourself if that’s what you really want, if it’s enough to ease your lonely nights, if it’s enough to hold your hand when you’re scared, if it’s enough to kiss you when you’re broken and if it’s enough to give you the love you need.

Next time, when you fall for someone’s potential, ask yourself if this potential will turn into something real or will they always be someone with potential but nothing more to offer. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Writing makes me feel alive. Words heal me.

Keep up with Rania on Instagram

More From Thought Catalog