Drawing a long line against what I see today

Focus on the ability to do more.

In one book from my school days, the author just drew two lines on a page next to the cover page: 
He had drawn a long line against a short line, like this: 
___________________________
______________
I admit, that I found the key to the progress of my life between the above two lines.

In other words, this page was a game-changer in my life. 
I grew up in an environment where people kept all their aspirations centred within existing visible lines (events and episodes). Hardly a few of us were working on drawing long lines (new aspirations, new visions), and I chose to be one of them (though they were less than 5%).

Let me elaborate: 
The short line denoted the current position, and the long line was a symbol of possibility, as I inferred. 
Two lines of different lengths in that book were a catalyst to keep my mind on track to excel in my tasks consistently. 
Since then, I have been focusing on my work and always exerting myself to achieve short-term and long-term goals in my life, embracing failures as and when they happen.

I was not in the habit of talking about people and places without necessity. Further, I was not taking my background (not so strong) into consideration. 
I was reading good books to learn how many people achieved greatness by going through constraints and fragile support systems. Such books were sparingly available in the remote places to which I belonged. I now recall reading only a few books that were of great help to me in shaping my thinking and actions. 
Teachers were emphasizing the completion of the syllabus, colleagues were talking more about the demerits of people and places, and society was anxious about norms. This was the aggregate of the environment; I was growing. 
My classmates never shared their feelings after glancing at two parallel lines, differing in length, in that book. There was no culture of sharing good input in school. Sorry to say that telling good stories to children by elders was rare. It is now out.

In the given circumstances, all I cared about was outperforming the average student. 
Apart from the curriculum: 
In my youth, irrigating crops on our farms was a tough task in the absence of suitable infrastructure. I applied other alternatives, and irrigation was done. The elders were uncertain about its possibility. This episode gave me new energy to work on "what seems difficult" at that time.

I was trusting my ability, and I have found it expanding since my school days. Why not? I was carrying some vibrant messages in our subconscious minds.

While tracing my track so far, I concluded that one voice was missing in my early days in school or outside. The voice was, "You are capable." 
Motivation matters. Inspiration helps growth. These are as effective in our lives as water and nutrients for growing crops. 
Taking lessons from my past days and being a senior in social systems, I talk about "capability" in people who are still crawling in their performance for some valid and also unacceptable reasons.

A car is running at a speed of 70 km per hour in bad weather but can run at 120 km/h. The performance gap exists for some valid reasons. It does not mean the car has lost the capability of 120 km/hr. 
The car can’t expand the upper limit, but humans are not capped in that way.
We can relate it to our performance in any field. The formula of "expanding capability" works well even in non-conducive environments.

In short
I believe you are capable. Continue learning new skills. Read books. Keep struggling. Don’t allow inside sparks to dim. The big line in your life is expanding. Keep it expanding.