Talents…

I enjoy watching sports. Almost any sport can captivate me at the professional level. Why? Because those players are talented. Even the worst teams are more talented than I am, whatever the sport. It’s fun to watch how the pros do it.

With the FIFA World Cup playing out on Canadian soil and with players on the Canadian team that I’ve heard of (I don’t regularly watch soccer/football) it’s even more fun to tune in to a match. In fact, I’ve surprised myself and watched more than just Canada play.

I love golf. Yes, a lot of people will say it’s like watching paint dry but once you’ve spent some time on a golf course and understand how easily a good shot off the tee can become a horror on the fairway or green, it’s relatively easy to appreciate those who practice constantly and do this for a living. The smoothness of a swing or the perfect putt from seventy feet back is very impressive. What can be even more appealing is watching when a professional player hits it in the rough or the trees or the water. Hey, I can do that! And then they recover. It might be only one bad hole and they carry on.

Last year the Toronto Blue Jays took the whole nation on an incredible ride. They played with skill and with heart. Every time at bat, every catch, every double play they gave it their all. Yes, they get paid millions of dollars to perform. They get that money because it’s expected they have the talent to earn it.

Professional athletes are paid to play a game or sport. Wow! Some of them make more money than tiny nations in our world. Wow! Imagine ‘playing’ as a career. Pretty amazing! How does it start, though? Talent. I believe, God-given talent.

Not one of those players is born with a professional career as an athlete. Some of them start very young, some of them pick it up in high school. I know of a girl who is a very good hockey goalie. As a youngster she was also an excellent softball player. She was recruited for her hockey skills by a college in the U.S., took the scholarship and is now attending school south of our border and playing hockey. Here’s the thing. What happens after college?

All of these professional athletes go through the stages of their sport - learn to play, play on school or community teams, rise through the ranks and play at the college level and then on to the professional arena. How do they get there? No talent, no rising in sport.

Let’s switch gears for a minute. Talent isn’t just in the athletic realm. I know people in the corporate world who are gifted with the ability to see the big picture, to understand consequences of action and inaction and rise in the ranks of their chosen fields. That’s talent, as well. How about singing? When a child can open their mouth and produce a song that hits the notes correctly, is clear and can be heard at the back of the room, that’s talent. What about artists? I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler. An artist can take their brush and turn that line into a horizon or a flower stalk or the waves of an ocean and the viewer can be transported. What a talent! My sister is an education assistant with special needs children and often with those who have behavioural issues. All day, Monday to Friday, she has those children assigned to her at different points during the day. She has a talent for understanding what those children need and getting through to them.

People are born with a talent for something. Not every person is going to have the level of talent that is required of a professional athlete. Not every person is going to take their talent and pursue a career in that field. Not ever person is going to rise to claim that talent.

Because talent isn’t enough. If it were, Rory McIlroy could eat whatever he wants, never practice, hang out watching movies all day long and then go to the Masters and win. That’s not how talent works. The gift of talent is just that, a gift. It has to be opened and once opened, it has to be nurtured.

A person may choose to treat their talent as a hobby. As a child my son loved to create special effects for Hallowe’en. When he started to consider his career choices he decided to apply for a film school. When he was asked about props, he said that is a hobby and he was interested in a different area of film.

A person may choose to ignore their talent. Maybe they have a talent for organization but are not interested in making a career out of it. I would suggest they’ll end up using the talent in whatever area they choose to become involved. Or maybe not.

Talent is just a starting point. The gift has to be developed. A talent isn’t the ‘thing’, there is much to be learned and built upon.

Using my earlier example, Rory McIlroy started golfing when he was a young child. According to what I’ve read about him, he had a plastic set of clubs at the age of two and was hitting forty plus yards at the age of three. He could have chosen to pursue another interest. Perhaps he would have been a good accountant or doctor and continued to play golf on the weekends. With lots of support and tons of time on the golf course, he honed his talent and became one of the top players in the world. It wasn’t immediately. It took years.

I think that’s one of the things I feel needs to be said nowadays and hence, my blog. Talent is a gift but it’s up to you what you’re going to do with it. Nothing that is a talent is instantaneous. You have to work at it. You have to be willing to work at it.

I know there are shows on television for singers to perform and win money and contracts. They give the impression that the winners don’t have to go through the hard work and tough times that singers have in the past. While I think that’s true to some extent I find it difficult to believe that there isn’t a lot of work that happens before they even try out for those shows. Maybe they aren’t travelling on their own dime and playing in little ‘holes in the wall’ but they’ve still had to hone their talent to get to that stage.

Talent plus passion can produce some amazing outcomes. Those are the examples of success we generally see in big lights. That doesn’t mean talent has to result in fame or a top salary. Talent is the starting point and it may or may not result in what others call accomplishments. It’s up to you to do what you want with it and, hopefully, enjoy it along the way.

What talents do you have? What are you doing with them? Are you still exploring your options? I believe writing is one of mine and it’s growing and developing every day.

There’s a lot of talent in the world. The people we see are those who took it further. They worked, a lot of them got lucky (right place, right time, right effort), they failed, they rose and learned. They took the gift of talent and turned it into something.

I’ve decided to add something new to my blogs. It’s called, “What I’m reading this week.” I think reading is critical. We learn, we enjoy, we think, we dream, all through books.

What I’m reading this week.

I just finished (but was reading it this past week so am including it here) “The Retirement Plan” by Sue Hincenbergs. A gift from my friends for my retirement, I finally took the time to open and read. Fun book! Lots of twists and turns.

You’ll notice this book looks read. There are some crinkles and a bit of a rough edge. I appreciate books and own some that are in close to pristine condition. But, for me, a book should be enjoyed and that includes the reality of it looking “used”. I carried this around everywhere while I was reading it.