SITTING ON YOUR TALENT
If you are like me, there are some things you may feel you do pretty
well, and others that you would not admit to having done even at
gunpoint! Please don't expect anything I build with my hands to remain
standing past sundown, or anything I attempt to repair to ever stay
fixed after I leave the room. And if my cars relied solely on me to
keep them going, I would walk most everywhere I go.
On the other hand, I do play guitar adequately and I can make a
memorable enchilada dish. I also enjoy working with people and I seem
to have made it a lifelong project to learn how to become a better
listener.
I never thought of myself as one who has any great talent, but like
each of us, I have certain skills and abilities. Let me tell you a
story, however, I once heard speaker Les Brown relate. It's a story
about a man who had real talent.
This particular man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player.
People came out just to hear him and his trio play. But one night, a
patron wanted them to sing a particular song. The trio didn't sing
much and declined.
But the customer was persistent. He told the bartender, "I'm tired of
listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!"
The bartender shouted across the room, "Hey buddy! If you want to get
paid, sing the song. The patrons are asking you to sing!"
So he did. He sang a song. A jazz piano player who had never sung the
song in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever
heard Sweet Lorraine sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King
Cole!
He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his
life playing in a jazz trio in no-name bars, but because he had to
sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in
America.
You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your
"talent" is particularly great, but it may be better than you think!
And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as
well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess!
Some people ask, "What ability do I have that is useful?" Others ask,
"How will I use the ability that I have?"
Steve Goodier
Publisher@... is a professional
speaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site for
more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Love
and Laughter at
http://LifeSupportSystem.com. Get his eBook on the
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