Manifest Abilities

A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations. - The Treasure of Franchard by Robert Louis Stevenson

I believe that we were given our gifts and talents for a reason – for them to be used. Whether they are for our own entertainment or the betterment of life, that depends a lot of the talent, the amount of talent, and the opportunities in your life to use that talent. But if you choose to say “screw the God/dess” and refuse to use what you were given, that’s your choice. I personally think your choice is wrong, but it’s your talent and your life, so you get to do with it what you want.

Now, some of you are going to go to extremes. “What if the only thing I’m really good at is killing people?” Or some such thing. Let’s take a look at it. If I can figure out a way to make killing people into a talent that betters humanity, then surely you can figure out something to do with your talent.

First, what part of killing people are you good at? Are you good at stalking them until they’re alone? Are you good at assessing people’s weaknesses? Are you good at breaking into a place so you can attack them in their own homes? Are you good at killing quickly and silently? In what way are you good at killing people? And how can you turn that into something else?

Stalking people is also useful for private detectives, law enforcement, bounty hunters, and news reporters. Assessing people’s weaknesses is also useful for career counseling, professional trainers, body guards, and boot camp. Breaking into places is good for thieves, people who assess burglary systems, tomb robbers, and guards since they’ll know how to prevent others from doing the same. Being quick and silent in your killing can mean you’d make a good surgeon because you know anatomy well, or a good butcher because you slice quickly without waste, or a great soldier either for the nation or as a mercenary.

If you doubt that what you are good at could possibly enrich your own life or someone else’s, add a comment. Tell me what it is, and I’ll see if I can give you some ideas. But, you were given the ability for a reason. You just need to figure out what it is.