Talent

What if talents are simply desires being realized?

So often you’ll hear folks say things like “he is so talented at music” or “she is so talented at drawing”. Even someone who seems to have the most natural talent at something had to start from square one when developing the skill. Simply assuming someone is automatically good at something doesn't give them credit for honing and applying their skill.

People definitely seem to be inclined towards certain skills. Some are more athletic than others. Some are better poets than others. But the inclination is the starting point. Someone’s skills exist because the athlete or poet desired to build them.

Another way of saying this is that the desire to draw is more important than any innate ability to draw.

It’s so easy to look at an especially fine athlete or musician and think “oh they have so much natural talent.” But even the most gifted people need to work to excel at what they do. The gift they’ve been given is the burning desire to work- and when someone wants to do something, calling it ‘work’ is difficult.

Rather than eyeing another's capability, what if you looked more closely at their desire to reach that capability.

We discover our talent by acting on our desires...