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Monday, May 07, 2012

Nurturing Your Talents




Shock, horror, you'd better sit down for this one ... I went to Church yesterday with Brodie. It was the first time in ages that we had gone. I'm glad we went. We got to meet up with lots of (old) familiar faces and we met some new people too. It was nice to catch up with everyone. Even some friends we had made through the Ambassador Program that Brodie & I participated in were there.

Anyway, one of the discussions we had yesterday during Relief Society was about nurturing and sharing our talents. It was kind of funny that this topic came up as our ward is having a Talent Show at the end of the month. The first thing that popped into my head was I know what my talents are and they weren't that hard to identify. They're knitting and crocheting. Not something I could share on talent night but they are something I could share. Well I do share them to some extent. I share what I make using my talents by giving things away that I create. Although Angus reckons I should selling the stuff I make but I honestly wouldn't know if anyone would buy them.

Some of the sisters were saying that they don't have any talents. They can't play a musical instrument or sing very well. I'm sure if they thought about it they would be surprised at what their talents really are. Who said talents had to be something musical or arty/crafty. They may have a talent for making the best desserts, a knack for soothing tired & grumpy children, finding bargains when you go shopping or underwater basket weaving! I know that last sounds a bit fat fetched but hey someone somewhere might be able to do it.

I do know that if you don't use your talent regularly you often forget how to do them. I used to be able to speak Indonesian. It was something I learned in Primary School and continued to study in High School. I even taught it when I was working as a teacher. Once I had stopped teaching I had no use to keep using this skill and I lost it. I still remember some of the words but I couldn't have a conversation in Indonesian.


That old saying of use it or lose it is so true.

What are your talents? Do you nurture them and still practise them?


2 comments:

Becky said...

Your post really touched me. I remember having a similar lesson on nurturing my talents and up to that point I really didn't have any talents- and that really bothered me. I made it my quest to find my talents. I stumbled across a really great book "The User's Guide to Being Human: The Art and Science of Self" by Scott Edmund Miller that helped me look deep into myself and find my talent- he points out that EVERYONE has a talent, and that everyone is special. I realized that I was great with people- a talent that some people wouldn't consider a talent, but I do. Thanks for sharing this great post!
http://usersguidetobeinghuman.com/

Jo-anne Blossy said...

Becky, Thank you for your kind words & I'm glad you found what your talent was. Being great with people is definitely a wonderful talent to have.