Potential

What do you see in this photograph? I see potential.
What potential do I see? Perhaps you see only a broken, discarded pair of glasses.
I see something very different.
I can see a child wearing those classes with a big smile on their face because they see the chalkboard for the first time.
I see a child sitting class at a desk with their hand is straight up in the air to answer the teachers question.
I see this child’s eyes and there is joy in their eyes, the joy of learning
I see the child’s eyes filled with the good feeling of high self esteem and great self worth.
I see a child that no longer feels like they are dumb or stupid...
I see a child who now knows they can learn, they can contribute, they aren’t dumb...
They just couldn’t see.

Do you know what else I see?
I see a person, lying broken on the street, homeless, penniless, hopeless, feeling like all is lost, they will never have a job, a home, friends and their life will never have meaning.
I see that person needs what these glasses need, a few parts, some work by someone with the skill and motivation to help them get put back together. For the glasses it’s literally put back together. But for the person it’s figurative or metaphorical.

But the result is the same.
Now I see that downtrodden person standing somewhere, in a job, helping people out or accomplishing great things.
They have the same smile as the child.
They have the same look of joy in their eyes.
Their eyes are filled with the same look of realization.
They are not worthless, they are stupid, they can learn, they can contribute.

That’s what I see in these glasses: Potential.

✍🏼 By Shortsegments.

Thanks to @abduhawab for posting this picture in a blog on random objects he saw at the beach.

Picture Source