Everyone has talents. Find them.

Years ago in Florida I taught kids in a Chapter One class that was a combination 4th/5th grade.  The kids that got into a Chapter One program at that time got there because they had scored below the 50th percentile in both reading and math in standardized testing.  These kids really struggled.  I had a set of twin boys in my class.  They were from a low socio-economic household.  They were being raised by their grandmother.  There weren't a lot of expectations for these boys at home.  Quite frankly, they had a low enough IQ that there weren't too many things that they could excel at as far as academics were concerned.  But these boys could run!  I mean they could really run fast!  I believe that if they were given proper training and coaching, they could have been olympic runners.  They didn't have that training and coaching, and that is a shame.  I wish I could have stepped up and offered it to them, but I was struggling at the time to support my own family while putting my husband through college.

While writing this post, I looked these boys up on a google search.  One of them is a registered sex offender in Florida.  You have no idea what seeing that did to me.  He could have been an olympic runner.  He was gifted in running!

Many years later, I taught at a school district in New Mexico where I taught gited kids.  They were gifted because they met the criteria according to the state of New Mexico.  What it means really, is that they were academically gifted.  Some of them will probably do something that will change the world.  I hope to find that on a google search one day.  Many different families wanted their kids in our gifted program.  They wanted their child to be "gifted."

I am here to tell you that every child is gifted.  Some may be gifted in music or art, while another is gifted in academics and another in sports.  Some are gifted in writing and another in being a loyal friend.  Some might be gifted in math but not reading or vice versa.  But everyone is gifted at something.  My challenge to my students has always been to look for the talents in others.  What are they?  What is it that this person can teach you about that they are better at than you are?  Then learn from them.  You may not become better at that thing than the person you admire, but you can be better at it than you are right now.  Learn something new, appreciate the talents of others.  Share what you have become good at.  We are all gifted.  Find your gifts, improve them, and share them.  Look for the gifts of others.  It will enrich your life.