I wanted to build on Kristy's comment about the mindset of talents from last week. What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word talent?
I usually think of painting. Violin. Sewing...
How do you define what a talent is, really? What do you think about being a good listener? Being a good friend? What about a being a patient mom? All these can't be displayed at a talent show, right?
I learned a whole lot more on talents one Enrichment Night five years ago. We made a list of all the things we felt the Spirit the strongest. For example, I feel the Spirit the strongest when I sing. I love to sing. I cry when I sing. I cry when I hear other people sing! I can tell you right now that I have no opera voice! Far from it. That night, I learned that singing is one of my talents.
Before I shed some more spiritual light to the matter, I'd like to share this quote Rebecca found for me by Howard Taylor. "I believe that the range of human ability, the range of what we're born with in terms of talent, is minuscule compared to the range of human accomplishment."
With that in mind . . . What about writing?
I love to write. I feel the Spirit when I write. Ideas flow into my head when I am ready to create. It has been a long road and I still need another thousand miles to travel. I started from somewhere. An awkward poem in fourth grade. An eye-rolling story in the sixth. A "gag me!" novel in high school (even after I took a creative writing class!)
President Monson said: "Each of you, single or married, regardless of age, has the opportunity to learn and grow. Expand your knowledge, both intellectual and spiritual, to the full stature of your divine potential. There is no limit to your influence for good."
He also paraphrased this thought (which I hope everyone reading this today takes to heart!):
You never know what a girl is worth,
You’ll just have to wait and see;
But every woman in a noble place,
A girl once used to be.
In this article, he was referring to our talents. Our gifts from Heavenly Father. We come upon them by expanding our knowledge. The things we learn in this lifetime need hard work to be developed along with inspiration from the Lord.
How are you developing your gift of writing?
Pretty much the same way I do everything, kicking and screaming, lots of complaining, then finally humility, and lots of prayer. I should be more faithful and skip kicking and screaming but it never seems to work out that way for me. Oh well, I'll grow up eventually, right?
ReplyDeleteTwo hours a day!
ReplyDeleteMy youngest child (love him to pieces) is four years old now and a great self-entertainer and therefore I have two hours every day to write! Two hours a day, even on Sunday when I write in my journal and work on my Grandfather's biography.
I remember what it was like when I used to try and type while nursing a baby at the same time. To those of you at that stage, twenty minutes is better than nothing!
LOL! Right now? I'm not... I'm living with my parents at the moment, so there is not a lot of free time for me to develop that talent. LOL! But usually, I spend a few hours in the morning and then a few hours after the kids have gone to bed, devoted to writing. It's a full time job for me. I think that's how I've been able to write so much so quickly.
ReplyDelete