Taming Our Talents

We are a gifted species. Despite our faults, humans display a remarkable range of capabilities. From the humanities to the arts to the sciences to athletics, we excel in many different areas and arenas. Our dynamic range of achievement is impressive.

 

 

But our talents, as individuals, are not always welcome, or appreciated. In fact, they are sometimes treated as burdens, and are taken for granted. They can be hidden from the world, deliberately. They can often be unrecognized.

I used to think that “true” talent was rare. Not everyone received it, I thought. Only a select few had real talent and those few were simply blessed with abilities that the rest of us might only admire.

I had a real talent to be wrong.

Each of us is good, sometimes really good, at something. Each of us has some ability, whether nascent or realized, that we understand, deep inside ourselves, is part of who we are, who we may become.

“Oh but that’s not true,” someone may object. “I can’t sing or draw or play the piano or anything like that. I’m just ordinary. I’m just – me.”

Well, just “you”, consider this: talent encompasses far more than prowess in the arts or the sciences, humanities, and athletics. It certainly includes that prowess; if you possess one or more of these skills, and you have had the opportunity to explore them, count yourself fortunate. Don’t stop developing that skill. But don’t be persuaded that the so-called talent pool is restricted to just those types of skills. The size of the pool is much bigger than any of us might think. It is, in fact, no pool at all. It is an ocean.

Are you a really good listener? Can you identify flowers based on smell? When you learn that someone is ill or suffering, do you have a “gut reaction” that makes you feel a connection with that person and their experience? Do friends and relatives tend to tell you that they were “just thinking about you” when you call them?

These are all talents. Not everyone has them. They are every bit as wonderful as the ability to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano or to deliver a perfect serve on a tennis court. And they require the same care and nurturing in order that they may develop, flourish, and bring beauty into the world.

That’s what our talents are: beauty builders. Developed to or toward their potential, these abilities can elevate our collective experience, can raise our conscious appreciation for life in all its aspects and unrealized wonders. These gifts can do this, that is, if they are recognized. Once recognized, they in turn must be shared.

Unfortunately, most of our talents are wild. They are unnamed. Raw. They need to be mastered through a blend of acknowledgment, understanding, and training.

A person who can light up a room with a smile is a person who needs to be invited into more rooms that need light. Someone with a capacity for calm thinking under crisis is someone who should be trained for and referred to more situations that need calm thinking. A person who can stand in front of others and inspire them to be better people is a person who should be encouraged and helped to stand in front of more people.

What talents do you have? Which ones do you have but don’t know you have? Which of those are ready for some taming?

Many of us are unaware of our talent range. Or, even when aware, many of us don’t take our talents through the paces that will mold them into usable tools and contributors for the world at large. We might be afraid of them. We might be afraid to ask someone else if we truly have them and if the effort is worth it.

I have a solution for this problem: find someone whose talent is recognizing others’ talents. These people are out there. They aren’t necessarily sitting in professional offices but are typically around you, every day. They may be family members or friends, they may be teachers or colleagues, they may be people who you know casually yet you feel have a knack for knowing others. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter how well you think you already know yourself. Be bold. In the next week, ask someone like this what she or he thinks you are or you could be good at.

You may be surprised to hear how talented you are.