Hidden Talents

Photo by Paul Codling on Unsplash

“It is easy to admire the gifts in others while negating our own.”

Now, more than ever before in the history of mankind is it easier to meet new people. Whether it is someone in our city we find on social media or reaching essentially half way across the globe, technology has made it virtually a snap to discover new people on a daily basis. Once in a while we even get to interact with notable people which a few short years ago we’d never dreamed possible.

It’s exciting to hear someone on the radio or watch them on the television only to have an opportunity to interact with them through one of the many online platforms. A person you’ve considered to have reached a level of success is now taking his or her own time to communicate with you can be a thrill for many.

Talented people lurk all around us. These may be people at work whose ambition or abilities we admire and wish we could duplicate. Perhaps there’s a particular skill you’ve been struggling to acquire and someone else picks it up as if it were second nature to them. If only certain things were easier for us to accomplish life would be a bit more pleasant.

I believe this is a common mindset for many and it’s understandable why. All of us do have individual skills we are born with. Many of those are connected to what it is we like or enjoy. However, because they’ve been part of us for so long, we tend to take them for granted and since we may feel there is nothing exceptional about us, those skills must not take extraordinary talent to achieve.

“If I can do it and I’m just a regular guy well then anybody should be able to do it”. This was a common theme for most of my life because my default thinking was to sell myself short. Believing I was something special would lead to false pride and arrogance so anything I did was rarely more than average.

The key to embracing our own talents is understanding the difference between pride and arrogance. We can be proud of ourselves without being self-important. There are many times we are proud of friends, our children, or our parents. That kind of pride is not conceited so why can’t we have that same pride in ourselves?

Conceit or haughtiness is when we place ourselves above everything else. This kind of egotism is what leads to strife and division. Self-confidence is crucial in many daily activities allowing us to reach many goals or successes.

When we do recognize our individual gifts, it behooves us now to be grateful and always remain thankful for them. Realize these gifts were given to you; not to exploit them and take advantage of others but to make the world a better place for your having been here.

This planet will be here long after we are gone and our abilities will either add to its betterment or promote its decline. It’s your choice.

My thanks to Paul Codling on Unsplash for the photo and I look forward to your comments.