When I was young I believed that my intelligence and talent were all I needed to be successful. I believed that my intelligence and talent mean the world OWED me recognition. I was so vain and so foolish.
As an educator I have found that those with the most intelligence or talent take it for granted. They dont learn to work hard. They dont learn to dig deep and push themselves for personal excellence. They just expect it all. These kids arent very happy. They spend most of their time being judgemental and looking at themselves in comparision to others and finding themselves superior. It must be lonely there in their world of exclusion, they dont have the world of people and experiences to enjoy because they are too locked into their own limited vision.
Then there are the kids who work for everything. These kids become talented. They find true joy in what they do. They dont exclude, they include. They work and work and work....and strive to be better with each task. They are friendly, pleasant, engaging and I would take a kid like this over the 'talented' any day of the week.
I wish that each of us had the possibility to see one day of the future...sort of like Dickens Christmas Carol...to see where we could go if we strived to be the best we could be. If we could see where our actions would lead. It would have saved me lots of years of mediocrity. Why was I mediocre? Because I thought my talent and intelligence meant i should get my 'due' instead of working for it. I wish i could give this knowledge to the best and brightest so they do not have to have that mammoth crash to earth that comes when they figure out that intelligence and talent are no substitute for character.
