As a lifelong musician, I’ve noticed that few adults realize the talents they have. So, I’d like to talk to you about your talents—and what you’re planning to do with them this year. No, it doesn’t matter if you’re an agent, a manager, or staff. We all have talents, those unique sets of gifts that somehow came together in one personality with your name on it. Now, don’t tell me you don’t have talents. Everyone does. Sometimes, they just don’t know it! Or, more often, they discount their gifts, not realizing how valuable and powerful they are.
Everyone teaches us something.
Once when lots of bad things had happened in my life, I read several books about why we were on earth, and what was the point to all this. One of the authors said we were here to teach others something. Having been the daughter of a teacher, and doing some teaching myself, that seemed a good way to look at it. As I decided to write this to you, I started thinking about what various people in my life had taught me. As you’re reading this, you’re thinking, probably, of those stand-out mentors you had in your life. It’s easy to see what they taught us. But, let’s think of some unlikely candidates.
My uncle Bud, for one.
Bud worked for my dad, never married, was an alcoholic—and a nice guy. He died when he was 45. So, what gifts did he have? What did he teach us? When Bud was a little boy, his teachers said he was dumb. Later on, it was discovered he wasn’t dumb. He just couldn’t see. So, Bud didn’t go to school much, and besides, his parents wanted him home to work on the farm. Bud drifted through life, working and drinking, and ended up in little
Similar Physical Limitations, Different Outcome
My mother, who also had eye problems her whole life, started out much like Bud, unable to see well. But, her parents got her the best medical care available so she could do the best with the sight she had. Her parents encouraged her scholastics, so she was able to skip a whole school year that she’d missed because of her eye operations and go into second grade, barely skipping a beat.
Bud and my Mom—Great Teachers
Some people weren’t very nice to Bud. But, my mother felt great compassion and empathy because of their similar eye conditions. Every day Bud would have lunch with us, and I watched my mother interact with Bud, showing him respect, while others didn’t. That made me curious. I started to learn other things about Bud. Even though he had been teased and berated as a kid, (and later, too), I observed that he was kind and thoughtful to others. I also found out he was very musically talented. My mother’s interest and compassion in Bud showed me that everyone has unique, sometimes undiscovered talents. Sometimes their situations teach us what we need to learn, even in an oblique way. Watching Bud and my mother interact taught me to appreciate others’ struggles and find compassion for them, no matter their situations.
By our actions, we are teaching every day. Make it the best lessons.
I hope, by this time of year, you have written business plans, set your goals, and are prepared for an exceptional 2008. But, there’s much more to achievement that the ‘hard’ information. I wanted to have a different way of helping you create the best YOU there is! All you need to do is to develop those gifts, those talents--and have the confidence that you can do it. So, expand your scope a bit, and decide on the gifts and talents you are going to use next year to help others. That will provide the fire and enthusiasm you need to push yourself to that next step, to be the best, excellent you that you were really meant to be. Here’s to that YOU!
Carla Cross,
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