The death of potential

While reading my latest book on politics and economics, I came across a reference to a biblical story called “The Parable of the Talents.” In this story, three servants are each given “talents” (a currency denomination used by the Greeks). First, the teacher gave him 5 talents, to the second he gave 2, and to the third he gave 1 talent.

Two of the servants doubled their money and the master was satisfied with the results. The third servant, fearful of losing him, buried his money where no one benefited from it, including himself.

When the master summoned the third servant to explain what he had done with his talent, he was angered and disgusted to discover that the servant had simply buried him and where the money had no opportunity to earn interest.

The servant tried to explain to the master that he knew how ‘demanding’ the master was and that he did not want to lose His money. The teacher didn’t buy it. He commanded that a talent be given to the first servant who could turn 5 talents into 10. (Reference Matthew 25:14 and Luke 19:12).

Although I believe that the story or parable was strictly about economy and frugality, it can be extended to include not only money, but also true talents (i.e. ability).

The cornerstone of my book, The Logic of Success, is the premise that unless you figure out what to do, true happiness will elude you. Finding out what you really want takes time, patience, and perseverance. In the first chapter, I discuss how to create “search patterns” to find your true calling. (Get a free copy at www.thelogicofsucccess.com).

Now, I want to go beyond the obvious of telling you about your hidden talents (you already know you have one, two, or more). I want to refer to the ‘How’ talents were (and are) buried within us.

As children, we all loved discovering new things. We even did things when others advised us not to (for example, touching the stove when Mom said it was hot). We wanted to learn, we wanted to discover for ourselves the world around us. Failure and pain have not yet turned into anxieties.

As we got older, we were expected to act a little more responsible and accountable for our actions. As in any soap opera, this is the scene of your life in which ‘society’ intervenes and begins to benevolently impose its rules on your behavior. It is now expected that:

a) conform

b) be more realistic

c) put aside childish things, and the most brutal of all rules,

d) STOP thinking about yourself first.

So what do we do? Exactly! We comply with each one.

We start to settle by dressing like everyone else and doing all the things “normal” people are expected to do. We even adopt their gestures, language and way of thinking.

So we stop dreaming and imagining ourselves doing wonderful things because they tell us to be more realistic. So what happens? We no longer create alternative visions of what our life could be like and conform (that is, commit) to what is given to us; the mundane, the routine.

Then we put aside our childish habits because we need to be more mature and responsible. No more having fun like balloon fights, dancing when no one is around, throwing food into the air to catch it with your mouth, seeing how many times you can burp with a sip of Coke, or who can fart the longest (sorry , I went too far). You get the idea.

Then the final act is committed. And as we age we commit a form of individual mental suicide. This is when we start to think about others and forget about bears. We begin to sacrifice our desires for what others (for example, society) need before our own. And whenever we have the audacity to think of ourselves, we immediately punish ourselves by reminding our inner world that we cannot be selfish.

The long-term result? You get a job, you stay at it, and as you get older, one day you wake up to the reality that most people experience at one point or another: “Hey, I’m not happy with my life.” You have done everything that society has told you to do, but you are still not happy. You have a big family, you have a decent job, the kids are doing well and you are participating in all kinds of community events and fundraisers etc.

Here’s something scarier. You are unhappy but you don’t know why or what you want to do with your life! He doesn’t seem to have a “real” talent and life doesn’t seem to have meaning or purpose. Sounds familiar?

Most people (i.e. society … again) label this a midlife crisis. I do not! I’d like to label it: The awakening. The quintessential moment in your life is when you wake up, rub your conformist eye, and realize that your life is running out of time.

And this is the reason why you can’t find your talent. Over the years, with each commitment and acquiescence of self, he slowly buried his talents deeper and deeper. Now you have the problem of having to unearth your talents after so many years of selflessly piling up those childhood dreams.

Start now by giving yourself some time, a few moments in a day to remember, to think about those things that gave you great joy and pleasure. Think about what you would like to do and it would make you happy. Break the bonds of conformity and to hell with being realistic for the moment. What would you like to do?

Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not advocating a nihilistic view of life in which you rebel and jeopardize everything you have built. Far from there. What I am advocating is that you remove subjective barriers, limitations and begin to think about your possibilities, your desires and wishes. Then formulate a plan that you can implement over time to help you excavate ONE talent that is buried within you.

If you were the servant in the parable and the master presented himself to you, would you be like the third servant who did nothing with the given talent? The greatest human tragedy is the death of potential, your gift, your talent, without you even realizing it.

Find your talent and start researching today. Here’s a tip: start with good memories and remember those times when you really enjoyed doing an activity. That’s where X marks the spot.

Clever? Get ready! Start digging!

Please forward this article; share it with a friend who may need some inspirational words.

Copyright © 2004 by Víctor González All rights reserved. This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopies, as long as the author’s name, website, and email address are included as part of the body of the article. All inquiries, including information on electronic licenses, should be directed to Víctor González, [email protected].

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