Think a minute!

There was a man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player. People came out just to hear him play. But one night, a patron told him he didn’t want to hear him play but to sing a song.

The man said, “I don’t sing.”

But the customer was persistent. He told the waiter, “I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing.”

The waiter shouted across the room, “Hey buddy! If you want to get paid, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!”

So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song Mona, Mona Lisa was sung that night by Nat King Cole!

He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar, but because he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.

You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your “talent” is particularly great, but it may be better than you think! And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess! The better question is not “what ability do I have that is useful?” It is rather “How will I use whatever ability I have?”

Just think a minute…

想一分钟！

有一个在酒吧里弹琴的男孩，弹得非常好。人们来到这儿，就是为了听他演奏。但一天晚上，一位老主顾告诉男孩，他不想听他弹琴，而想听他唱歌。

男孩说：“我不会唱歌。”

但这位顾客很固执。他告诉侍者：“我听厌了钢琴演奏，我想让那个人唱歌。”

侍者的喊声穿过整个房间：“嗨，老兄！如果你想拿到工资的话就唱首歌，这位顾客让你唱！”

男孩照做了，他唱了一首歌。从没有在公共场合唱过歌的钢琴演奏者唱了平生的第一首唱歌。在那之前，没人听过《蒙娜丽莎》这首歌。那晚，是纳特·金·柯里用自己的方式演唱的。

他有天赋但不懂利用。或许他余生只会在毫无名气的酒吧里默默无闻地弹奏钢琴。然而因为这次无法推托的演唱，他成为美国最著名的艺人之一。

你，或许一样有才能与天赋。你也许不觉得自己的才能有什么了不起，但它可能比你想像的要棒得多！只要坚持，许多才能都能得到发展。但是，如果你把自己的才能埋没了，那你就会什么能力都没了！最好的问题不是“我有什么有用的才能？”而是“我该怎样利用自己的才能？”

请想一分钟！……