My kids are watching the Tinkerbell Movie. I usually don't pay much attention to it, since it's not my favorite movie. And, yes, there are "kid" movie that I will drop everything to sit and watch. This is not one. However, something about it struck me today, and I'm not entirely sure why.
Partway through the movie, Tinkerbell decides she doesn't want to be a Tinker Fairy, because Tinker Fairies don't get to go to The Mainland. She's curious about the beautiful land far away that she's only heard about. So she tries being the other types of fairies, but fails miserably. She can't hold water or light, she can't teach the birds, and she nearly destroys the gardens when she attempts to round up the tumbleweeds as a Garden Fairy. Her friends try to convince her that tinkering is what she does best, but she rejects the idea. Then she finds a broken, abandoned music box with a ballerina on top. Without even realizing what she's doing, she fixes it as her friends watch in amazement. In the end, the Fairy Queen allows Tinkerbell to take the fixed music box back to the Mainland where it belongs, and Tinkerbell comes to accept that tinkering really is what she does best.
As I was listening to the movie, while passing through the living room on my way to make lunch and do laundry, a quote popped into my head: "Use what talent you posses; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best," Henry Van Dyke. And it made me sort of wonder, how often do I (or does anyone) try to do the things we're not very good at and reject those which we do best?
Last night I plunked out a few more chords on the guitar. I like to think that my musical background helps me to hear when I'm not playing something right and be able to fix it. The night before last, I fixed dinner for a friend while absentmindedly dancing around the kitchen. I cracked a few jokes to a friend while chatting online and made him laugh (at least that's what he said). Music, cooking, humor... these are all knowledge and talents of mine, which I enjoy using and making the most of.
Plenty of people have lots of talents that I find myself being envious of, and will sometimes try to emulate. I joined a Fantasy Baseball league and have no clue what I'm doing. I consider it a talent to be able to follow the statistics and understand what each mean, and decipher which players are the best. This is a talent some of my co-workers and other friends possess which I do not. I have tons of musician friends who can sit down at at a piano or pick up a guitar and play a song. This is a talent I do not posses, but it's also the purpose for wanting a guitar. I have friends who can survive camping in sub-zero weather, fix just about anything around the house, paint a beautiful picture, compete in triathlons.... talents I do not possess. It's never too late to learn something new, I firmly believe that. And it's always good to find new talents. Even if you're not perfect at them, just doing something new and different is an accomplishment. I'll never understand all the stats of baseball, and I'll never perform a guitar solo in concert, but just being able to say that I have tried these things is enough for me.
The talents you have can always lead you to other things and allow you to explore and discover new talents. Having and using talent isn't about being perfect, it's about finding out the things that you are at least somewhat good at, and more importantly, the things you enjoy.
Cheers! :)
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