Do Nothing

A carpenter and his apprentice were walking through a large forest. When they came across a tall, huge, gnarled, old beautiful oak tree, the carpenter asked his apprentice "Do you know why this tree is so tall, huge, gnarled, old and beautiful?" 

The apprentice looked at his master and said "No...why?"

"Well," said the carpenter "because it's imperfections rendered it useless for what people wanted.  If it had been useful, it would have been cut down long ago and made into tables and chairs.  But instead, it was left here, untouched and allowed to grow so tall and old that now we can sit in it's shade and relax."

The lesson here is that sometimes we feel frustrated because we cannot do something now and yet we don't realize that our skills and talents are better served for another purpose. 

Talent

Everyone has talent.  What is rare is the courage to follow talent to the dark place where it leads.

~Erica Jong

Use Your Talents

In ancient times, a talent was a unit of money, which is how it is used in this story.  But the story holds just as true when a talent is defined as “an individual ability”.

The master of a wealthy estate was preparing for a long journey to a far away country.  Before his departure, he entrusted a portion of his wealth to three of his servants.  To the first he gave five talents.  To the second he gave two talents, and to the final servant he gave one talent. Each was instructed to use what they had been given.

A year later the master returned to his estate and called his servants together to see how they had done.

The servant given five talents had invested wisely and had doubled his talents, so he now possessed ten.  “Well done” said the master. “Because you used what I gave you, I will give you more.”

The second servant had used his talents to help the village people.  Again the master was please and said “Because you used what I gave you, I will give you more.”

When the master asked the third servant how he had done, he replied  “you only gave me one talent and I was careful not to misuse it.  In fact, I put it in a safe place while you were gone and never touched it.  Here it is, good as new.”

The master was furious and yelled “ How dare you not use what I gave you?” then he took the talent away from the servant and gave it to the one who had ten.

The lesson is that we have to use the talents that we are given in order to grow and gain more.  If we do not use our abilities, we may very well lose them.