10 December 2020
The most influential teachers in my life have been people and circumstances that have been able to “extract” the potential that was always residing within me. In my younger years, I was wrought with self-doubt, and I knew little of my hidden abilities. Too often we’re quick to tell others why they can’t or why they shouldn’t do this or that. As a college professor, I have to be extra careful not to discourage, but to help students learn of their own, particular gifts. Guiding them to an understanding of their unique abilities is not always an easy task, however. If I notice that their aspirations are motivated by a desire to give back to the world, I help to encourage them to explore those urgings. If their goals and dreams center around the promotion of their own ego, I try to help them see things in a different way.
To recognize your talents is to know what brings you energy, fulfillment, and joy. The discovery of talent begins by asking, “In what ways do you want to contribute to the world?” Many people doubt that they have anything to give at all! But every person on the planet must find something to give. The universe designed each of us with gifts, so that those gifts can be honed and cultivated to contribute, not to just receive. However, many of us never get a chance to express our gifts, uniquely. Our creative sensibilities are often suppressed because our jobs require us to do things a certain way. Our life’s work is to meet the objectives of the companies for whom we are employed. But what if you could formulate your own objectives? What if your imagination could roam free and could come up with new and innovative ways of contributing to the world?
Today is a good day to explore how YOU can hone your unique talents. How would you contribute to the world, if you had complete freedom to do so? I feel that this is how you begin to uncover hidden talent. Real, lasting talents are those that are motivated by giving, not by achieving. This lesson took me a long time to learn. There is no greater reward in life than the discovery of unknown potential and ability, particularly if the aspiration is one that has a positive impact on the world.