“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.” 
― Arthur Schopenhauer

My thought today is about talent. Lets define it first.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is a special and usually inborn ability. It is  a special often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude or a  general intelligence or mental power  also called  ability. The natural endowments of a person.  Synonyms aptitude, bent, endowment, faculty, flair, genius, gift, head, knack.

Are Talents genetic or learnt?

Perhaps, both. Whether we are aware of it or not, we all have a talent. There is a potential that if parents are artists, the children can be as well. Talent without practice becomes dormant. We know of people who an accident or illness  forced them to develop or  exercise a dormant talent or skill. Some examples of great talented people.

1) Stephen Hawking – ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) – Physicist
2) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Polio – paralyzed from the waist down.) President of the USA.
3) Stevie Wonder (Blind) (Musician)
4) Vincent van Gough – (Mental Illness) Painter.
5) Sudha Chandran – (Amputation of right leg) Dancer

Talents can be learnt. Perhaps a dormant talent can be fired up with an unexpected opportunity or after a  “blessed season of adversity.”  It’s the case of Oprah Winfrey after a troubled childhood, Steve Jobs childhood  and his business ventures  or even Thomas Edison and the 1000 times he tried before created the light bulb.  Just to mention some.

The fact that one have a talent at something , it doesn’t mean that we don’t  need to bother about success.  You see, one may be good at selling but if we don’t  exercise our given selling skills to sell, we may  become one more talented person who never discovered his unique abilities and capabilities.

Lastly, talent is good and is evil and both will affect many people.

If you haven’t discovered your talent, pledge today to never surrender to adversity; …your talent may be about to flourish.