What Does It Mean to Be Capable?

People are inclined to always associate being capable with having special abilities or talents or looking at one’s achievements in life. But if we try to look at it on a different perspective, we all actually posses unlimited potentials so everyone is capable. It’s easy to say it but the hardest part is believing it to be true, especially at the crucial moment.

We all have different beliefs but our ultimate aim is to be happy in life, am I right? Everyone in the world wants to be happy and no one enjoys suffering from problems. When we are overwhelmed with problems, we feel incapable but that is actually the most crucial time to pull ourselves together and shift our mindset to believe that we are capable no matter what happens or where we are in life.

Life is a struggle with ourselves. It’s the inner struggle between happiness and unhappiness, between moving forward and regressing. If we are asked to choose, I guess we will always choose the easy and comfortable path- that’s human nature. But an easy and trouble-free life will only leave us feeling empty in the end. Then, we become sad people with happy Instagram photos.

My mentor, Daisaku Ikeda says,

“Today will never come again, so each day must be treasured, lived mindfully, with complete commitment.”

The present moment is LIFE itself. We all have visions of how we wish our lives would be that we forget to experience the life we actually have. It’s a sad reality when we go through life dreaming of another life that seems out of reach. The hope and faith that ‘I am capable!’ become clouded by all the stress and worries of our daily life. Do you find yourself in this situation?

The more we become aware of the life we live and that every experience happens for a reason….that nothing is coincidence and every painful experience is an opportunity to learn and expand our life. Every experience lead us to the path that we are right now, through the different decisions that we made. The collective decisions that we made ultimately shape our life. The choice is either to drown in the sea of suffering or to keep swimming and challenge ourselves to become better. Owning to our life allow us to see that we are not the victim of this life filled with suffering but the sole creator of it. It’s the law of cause and effect. It’s hard to accept sometimes but you have to admit that all your accumulated actions have caused you to be in the situation that you are in because no one thinks, no one speaks and ultimately no one makes decisions for you. Am I correct?

Learning to take responsibility for the current state of your life and learning through the process don’t just make us capable people, they make us outstanding people 🙂

The words of my mentor in life, Daisaku Ikeda once again highlight the unlimited potentials we have as human beings.

“Human life possesses a potential deeper than the great wide ocean and vaster than the sky. We may tend to give up and resign ourselves to present circumstances, thinking “There is no way.” But by breaking down these barriers in our minds, we can enjoy vibrant lives, filled with powerful life force like the sun.”