Everybody has some talents.

But what is a talent?

We tend to think of talents in conjunction with the arts: singing, dancing, drawing, painting, writing or playing a musical instrument. Some people would even go farther and say that “true talents” are only found in the arts. That’s a myth fostered by artistic snobs and those who believe them.

A more “de-myth-tefied” definition would be that a talent is a developed ability to do something—anything, artistic or not. For instance, people with a talent for numbers tend to be good accountants. People with a talent for knowing how things work tend to make good mechanics or engineers. People with a talent for comforting tend to make good nurses or counselors.

Talents are very enriching, both for the individual with the talent and for those people with whom that talent is shared. Talents enrich the world.

There are three terms that are very instructive in better understanding the nature of talent. Those terms are: inclination, aptitude and skill.

Inclination is a desire to do something or gain that talent.

Aptitude is a natural ability to learn to do something.

And skill is what is acquired after an aptitude is transformed into reality by work and practice. Skill is when we have actually achieved talent.

There are some talents that I don’t have an inclination for. I wouldn’t like to be a banker or a policeman or a psychiatric nurse. While I respect those professions and readily acknowledge their worth, I have no interest in doing them. I might actually have an aptitude for those professions—who knows?—but they don’t interest me. I don’t even care to find out.

But sometimes, discovering that we have an aptitude in a given area increases our inclination for it. As an example, I was in my mid 40s when, chaperoning a youth group at the pistol range at the Royal Military Academy, I discovered a real aptitude for shooting. I was not only better than all the young men I was chaperoning, but better than the military instructors who were supervising us. Since then, my inclination towards marksmanship has grown.

But an inclination or an aptitude is not the same thing as a skill or a talent. A seed is not the same thing as a flower or a tree. The thing that separates them is growth. Potential is not the same thing as accomplishment.

We sometimes do people a disservice by telling them that they are talented in a given area, when what would be more accurate is to say that the have great potential in a given area.

People will manifest differing reactions to being told that they have an aptitude in some area. Some folks will kick back and figure that they don’t have to work in those areas. Rather reminiscent of Aesop’s fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. The much faster hare figured he could afford to nap while the much slower, but steady tortoise won the race.

A complacent attitude will have the effect of robbing us of our talents unless we shed those attitudes.

Other people, however, will increase their activity when told that they have an aptitude.

People have varying aptitudes for any talent. Some are capable of average accomplishment. Others are gifted with the potential for superior achievement. It doesn’t matter if we don’t have a great aptitude for a certain talent. If we have an inclination for a talent, we can improve our performance by effort and practice.

There are also different reactions to being told that you don’t have a certain aptitude. Many people believe those kinds of pronouncements and never attempt that activity again. Take the statements, “You can’t sing;” “You couldn’t carry a tune in a bushel basket;” “You couldn’t carry a note if it were duct taped to your back.”

How many people subjected to that kind of criticism refuse to sing ever afterward. Maybe they won’t even sing in the shower.

I remember a woman who I will call Betty. She was quite tone-deaf. And yet at church she would sing merrily and altogether off key. But rather than detracting from the hymns, she added something wonderful, because she was so honestly joyful that her singing was a positive addition to the other voices.

Unfortunately, there are others, who may have been told the same things about their singing, who sit through the hymns in utter silence. What a loss.

We need to consider our sources when we are told we don’t have a given aptitude.

I had a colleague who had his office right next to mine. He never played music in his office, while I always did: classical, country, blues, opera, soundtracks, pop, oldies—a wide variety. For fifteen years he and I attended a function where we stood side by side and sang the national anthem. I noticed that he could carry a tune well enough. One day, I mentioned to him of my recent experience singing backup bass vocals on a record album and that I sang bass in the church choir. He asked, “How can that be? You can’t carry a tune!”

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“Well, every year when we stand and sing the national anthem, you don’t sing a single note right.”

I explained to him that I was singing the bass harmony for the national anthem. He knew enough about music to sing the melody, but didn’t recognize the bass harmony when it was sung. Clearly I would have done myself a great disservice if I had believed his assessment of my singing.

And so it is with any of us who have been told we can’t sing. I feel that if you have an inclination towards any talent, you should pursue it. You may not have a great aptitude for it, but if you have an inclination and follow it, you will improve.

Don’t let anyone steal your inclinations—and indirectly, steal your potential talents. Follow your inclinations. Your life will be richer for it. The world will be richer for it.

You may never sing in public, but you’ll have a lot more fun in the shower.

A. Michael Shumate
http://www.elfstonepress.com