Looking anywhere, you can find people who seem to have a knack for extraordinary living, people who seem to have an unnatural talent for seemingly everything, people who seem to just excel effortlessly at whatever they set their mind to. And then there are the rest of us. The people who are sometimes “pretty good” at something, or a few things, but don’t really have that one thing or set of things that they are just excellent at. It may sound discouraging, but I’ve heard these called “mediocre talents.”
Mediocre talent is a little harsher than what I actually mean. For example, the people who can sing or play instruments very well but can’t come up with their own music no matter how hard they try. Or the people who can follow building instructions flawlessly, but cannot design something of their own. The people who know grammar, structure, and plot devices inside and out, but have a hard time coming up with original content that they are proud of or is well-received. They seem to have half of a whole talent.
But to say that they are missing something is wrong. Part of their talent is that they have the courage to keep pursuing what they are passionate about, even though others say that they aren’t good enough or even when they think that they aren’t good enough. To be able to face failure or rejection and keep moving forward in, mostly, one piece is a talent that a lot of people don’t have and one that a lot of others never will have.
But nobody is perfect. Eventually, the thought that the time and effort they have put into something only to have that something be less than what they wanted, or to not be liked by others was a waste will creep into their minds and they will play with the idea of giving up. For example, someone who is good at playing the guitar in a very technical way and can play any song that they want to learn but cannot come up with an original song of their own that they are proud of. Eventually they are going to toy with the idea of giving up because they are not where they want to be.
But to those people who say that they only have half of a talent, you are wrong. The other half of your talent is never giving up. By facing your own shortcomings, you recognize in what areas you need to improve in and then pick yourselves up and do it. That is what makes your “mediocre talent” one worth having. And by continuously picking yourself back up, you influence others around you. People are more observant than we like to give them credit for sometimes. Others around you can see that you do not give up when you fall short and that gives them the courage to continue their journey as well.
So shout out to the people with “mediocre talents.” Shout out to the people who are almost great at something now. Shout out to you guys because one of these days, you will figure out exactly what you need to be one of those people who seems like they are just a naturally excellent person. One of these days you will be able to look back at all of the times that you didn’t meet the expectations that you, or others, set for you, and be able to say that you are better for having not given up.
