Talent

“Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you’re willing to practice, you can do.” Bob Ross

I didn’t even know who Bob Ross was but I really resonated with this quote when I happened upon it earlier today.

What I know from (often bitter) experience is that what we often think of as “talent” can end up being more of a curse than a blessing.

Why?

Well, first of all, it makes it a lot easier for the ego to convince you that you’re “special” because you’re so “talented”…and down that road lies all kinds of pitfalls and potential suffering.

It also makes it harder to learn discipline and even how to practice. After all, if it all comes “easy” in the early stages of playing an instrument you might begin to think that you really are “hot stuff” — having fun and receiving lots of “strokes” — without ever establishing a solid foundation on which to build. There can even be a subtle sense of expecting something for nothing, and that never bodes well for the long run!

The end result is an all too common tendency to get a skewed perspective that’s essentially backwards, where we take credit for being talented, while downplaying the hard work aspect. The truth is that the only thing we CAN take credit for is the energy and effort we put out. We absolutely can NOT take credit for our “talent” or for the qualities and attributes that make us good at something.

I mean, does a professional basketball player take credit for the fact that he’s 7 ft tall? I hope not! But he can certainly take credit for the hours spent learning and then perfecting the skills necessary to excel at his sport.

Over the years of my career as a classical flutist, I came to envy my less “talented” friends; the ones who gained a reputation for their work ethic, plugging away in the practice room and simply getting the job done.

As I learned to be more like them, I developed and refined my skills to where I was eventually able to do a lot more with those unique abilities that I had been blessed with…which ended up being the best of both worlds!