Completely Random Sunday #3

Last week I confessed that I did not watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I am glad to report that I was NOT the only person to have missed it, there are other people out there who didn't see it either and this made me feel much better! However, I do have to admit that I've been watching some of the swimming. The main reason for this is that I am insanely patriotic about Australia and swimming is the one sport in which we are guaranteed to get medals!! I love seeing Australia win!!

However, the one person who really has impressed me over the last week is Michael Phelps. That guy is truly amazing. His ability in the pool is beyond compare and I imagine in 50 years time I will be able to tell all my great nieces and nephews that I saw every single one of his record breaking swims and cheered him all the way....even if he is an American. I love that he has achieved so much, although I am not so secretly hoping that Australia puts an end to his dream of getting 8 gold medals at one Olympics by kicking butt in the medley relay today....sorry to my American friends, but losing would probably be a good character building experience for him...LOL!!

Anyway, this brings me to the actual topic of today's random post....TALENT!!!. It's a strange and rather elusive thing, talent. Everyone has talents, things that they are good at, that they do better than other people, and generally these things give one pleasure. I never thought that I was very talented at anything...I really believed that I was rather average. I am NOT good at sport, I can't swim very well (mostly because I hate putting my face under water), and as much as I would like to be good at art, that is drawing and painting, I am not. However, not long after I started at uni, I discovered that I have a talent for learning languages. I never knew I possessed such a gift before this, mostly because I had never had the opportunity to try. But I find that it comes relatively easily for me, despite the fact that I was over 30 and that's supposed to make it more difficult. But compared to others in my language classes, I found the process easy...it just made sense to me and I rarely struggled for understanding. I also learned that I write rather well...my grades for essays have encouraged this belief and if you don't agree then take it up with the markers!! I probably won't ever write a best selling novel...but you never know :)

Earlier this year my darling sister introduced me to the world of stamping and card making. Having seen a lot of amazingly talented people's work, I don't believe that I am supremely talented in this area, but having put my creations here on my blog and received lots of lovely comments, I have come to think that maybe I'm not too bad. I realise and accept that I am never going to paint a masterpiece, but I can create small works of art that can be sent off in an envelope to (hopefully) brighten someone's day. I have some small talent.

This has even led me to believe that perhaps I have other talents too. My question for you today is this: what are your talents? I know that most of you who read my blog are crafters and I assume that you have talent in this area....what I'm talking about here are your other talents...I know you have them and I want to know what they are. So, leave a comment, tell me what you are good at...don't be shy, because mostly we are our own worst critics and we have been taught that it's somehow wrong to say that we are good at something. but the thing is, if someone like Michael Phelps, who has achieved so much, did not believe in himself and his gifts as an athlete then he certainly would never have amazed the world by his achievements.

I will leave you with a quote from the incredible Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech, and perhaps this might inspire us all to believe that we do have the right to shine, to show the world (even if it is just our own small section of it) that we have gifts, talent, and are powerful beyond our own self-limiting beliefs.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Have a beautiful day,
Kristie