Letter To The Editor: Resident Encourages Others To Share Their Talents

Letter To The Editor:

A good philosophy to have for your life is to use whatever gifts you have received to serve others. Many times people equate a phrase like that to mean sharing their material wealth or possessions. The famous artist Pablo Picasso said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

I would encourage you to look into sharing your time and talents to help others. Think of using your talents as a way to focus on using your strengths rather than focusing on your weaknesses. Studies have shown remarkable improvement in people’s quality of life when they utilize their strengths/talents for a good cause.

Those improvements include a boost in self-confidence, increased energy, and overall improved health and wellness. This can sound too good to be true, but sharing our time and talents with other people can create more lasting life fulfillment. It is actually a win-win situation.

We get to exercise our talent and people on the other end receive a benefit from it. There are many groups offering opportunities for willing people to share their knowledge and talents with others.

The Jersey County Arts Council is such a group. It was formed to allow people to immerse themselves in art generated and taught by their fellow community members. The JCAC is looking for those willing to teach their talents to others and offers a variety of classes to enjoy the many facets of art from singing, to gardening, sewing, painting, crochet, and jewelry making, just to name a few. This group is always expanding their offerings for both children and adults. Look them up on Facebook and offer to share your talents. Opportunities like this will open up the possibility of finding like minded groups of people that you can bond with and truly relate to.

Teaching your talent through a group like the Jersey County Arts Council gets you in a room with people of similar interests with similar goals. Our time and talents are meant to be shared with others. If someone sees you sharing your talents, then they may choose to do the same, creating a domino effect of positive change. Many will offer the reason for not taking advantage of this is that they don’t want to put the spotlight on themselves.

Giving in to a fear of sharing what lights you up inside will ultimately cause you to avoid doing things that bring you joy. Some will offer their ready excuse that they think they are not a teacher by trade so they are not qualified to instruct others in their talent. A very wise and practical Ben Franklin said, “hide not your talents. They were made for use. What’s a sundial in the shade?” If you are not sure what talents you possess, consider what you enjoy spending your time and money doing. What gives you joy and contentment? It is fun sharing your talent and we all need more fun in our life! Keeping your talents hidden from the world is selfish.

Choose to share your talents and empower others to do the same. It will help make the world a better place, and form a stronger community, which is never a bad idea. ?

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