You are pure potential.

This week, during my recent and newfound freedom from the working world, I had lunch out with a friend of mine. After we were through eating, we took some time to peruse a few of the stores adorning Main Street in my hometown. It's funny the things you find time for when you're not rushing back into the office.

Inside one of the stores, a longtime fixture in this town, I found a display of magnets. Hundreds of them. I have this thing about magnets. I try not to let my fascination overtake me. I do, after all, have an entire shoebox full of magnets stored at my parents' house. Those magnets remind me of my childhood. The magnets in this store, however, made me think of my future. A multitude of inspirational quotes imprinted in vivid colors on their faces captivated me for over forty minutes. It was as if they had been placed there for only my eyes to see. Further encouragement and validation for my recent departure from my firm.

You are pure potential.

That particular quote, although not one of the three which I ultimately ended up purchasing, continues to ring through my conciousness. As cheesy as it sounds, I feel potential pumping through me these days with such a renewed force that it makes me almost uncomfortable. And although I'm pretty sure I'll end up at another law firm in the Detroit area, part of me continues to ask myself: but what if?

What if this is my chance to make a break? To take a risk? To do something I never thought I could really do? Maybe I'm supposed to move to Chicago or DC or New York. Maybe my calling is to move down to Louisiana and help with the rebirth of a city so devastated by hurricane that many of its own residents have moved on to new lives in new cities, abandoning all hope for their former home. Perhaps I should be going back to school and obtaining a teaching degree so that I can go back to the only thing I've ever done that's brought so much joy to my life that I felt fulfilled every day: working with kids.

See, I probably will stick it out in this world of law firms, of lexis research, motion-writing, and professional debate and strategery. But the idea that I am a raw ball of potential makes me smile ear to ear. Potential, yes. I know I have the ability to work and achieve anything I set my mind to. It's just a matter of channeling that potential and picking a direction.