Goals Ambitions and Talents

Southern California’s Death Valley is 280 feet below sea level. In summer, the daily low temperature is rarely less than 21 degrees and the daily high, for weeks on end, can be up to 50.

In fact, temperatures of 60 degrees Celsius have been recorded….making Death Valley one of the hottest hot-spots in the world.

Not surprisingly, it’s also one of the driest. However, several years ago, a remarkable event occurred. It started raining in Death Valley. For 19 days on end, gentle showers fell-and kept falling on that inhospitable wasteland.

After the rain can you guess what happened?

A zillion tiny seeds from a million different plants burst forth with life. They’d obviously lain dormant for decades amongst the scorching rock and sand but just a few short hours of refreshing water saw that desert transformed into a green and flowering new land. It looked incredible. When we think about Death Valley and seeds I’m reminded time after time about the seeds of talent that lie dormant in many of us. Everybody has some type of talent to share with us whether it maybe a musical talent, coaching-teaching-mentoring talent, writing talent, sports talent, entertaining talent, acting talent.

In Matthew 5:16 we read, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Even if we are religious or not religious, our lives will be enriched with the sharing of these god given talents to help other people feel the appreciation of goodness. This appreciation brings joy to our soul and brightens our future.

In his book Standing for Something, President Gordon B. Hinckley stated:

It is not enough just to live, just to survive. It is incumbent on each of us to equip ourselves to do something worthwhile in society—to acquire more and more light, so that our personal light can help illuminate a darkened world. And this is made possible through learning, through educating ourselves, through progressing and growing in both mind and spirit. [Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something (New York: Times Books, 2000), 67]

Obviously there maybe struggles of trying to find out what gifts or talents we may have. First of all if we take the time to talk to people who have or are successful in there chosen fields, study it out in your mind what interest you, then as you feel goose bumps or a feeling of joy come over you then that is the area of knowledge or destiny where you need to work towards. As you progress you will see a bright future ahead of you.