Have you ever heard the story of the woman who preferred the smell of dead fish to flowers?
 
There is a very old story of a woman who sold fish all her life and knew nothing else. One fine summer day, she was invited to the queen's palace to help prepare a royal festival.  When she was shown to her room, she found it filled with fragrant flowers. "How disgusting," she complained. "Please take me back and let me sleep near my pile of fish."
 
Now why would she choose the stench of her fish over the sweet fragrance of flowers? It is simply because of habit and familiarity. It's the old choice of picking "the devil you know."
 
In the same way, we often hold on to our angers and sorrows, our bitterness and mediocrity because they are all we know. They offer us familiarity in an uncertain world and a self-image we can hold on to and feel comfortable - if not necessarily happy - with.
 
But the miracle of life is that as soon as we realize that we can choose self-worth, approval and appreciation over pain and fear, a powerful force begins to work on us.  Over time, we can learn to acknowledge and nurture the essential goodness and strength that each one of us was born with. And we can learn to use our tremendous inner potential for both our own and the common good.
 
People use their inner potential every day. There is no doubt at all that you can do it, too.