UNITED STATES—The world is made up of many talented individuals. Some of us have gifts that others would die for. That’s the power of having a God-given talent or gift; you can’t allow it to go to waste. So many of us work day in and day out unaware of the talents that lie inside of us.
We all have at least one gift inside of us, the problem is so many of us have no idea what that gift is. Your gift can be found by finding your passion. Just exactly what does that mean? It means that when you find sincerity, peace, happiness beyond belief and money is not a factor in what you do, your passion/gift has been discovered. I never quite knew what my passion was a very long time because I thought it was impossible to have more than one passion, but that’s not true.
It is indeed possible to have more than one gift in life, but I truly believe there is always one passion you have that outweighs the others. For years I though I would be a surgeon; it kinda was a plan of my as a youngster, but as time would put it that passion was pushed on the backburner for my love of cinema. Its one thing to love movies, but it’s another thing to breathe cinema on an ongoing basis.
It was a passion that faded out of my life for a time, but came back to its surface through my writing. That’s my gift: I’m an exceptional writer. It’s not a phrase I’m comfortable putting out there, but its something that I know I’m good at. People should not mistake confidence for cockiness as they are not the same thing. You can be confidence without being cocky. With my knack for writing I have always had a passion for the law. Not just any law, but criminal law; guess it was my way of making a difference in the environment. I was literally by the touch of a dime, this close to attending law school, but in a remarkable set of events I realized my passion to write outweighed my love for the legal arena.
With any gift, the more you use it the better you get at it. This is something that I’ve learned over time. If you sit idle and refuse to use the gift that has been bestowed upon you, you can lose it; more importantly your skill set for that gift diminishes over time. I’ll never forget the one thing my professor told me in college.
“The most important thing about being a writer is no matter how hard your day may be, no matter how tired you may be, you must take time each and everyday to write. The more you do it the better you become at it.” The statement is so true, as a writer there are days where picking up a pen and paper or grabbing the keyboard to write something of importance down, seems wasteful, but its not.
I’ve gone a few years without really tackling my passion of screenwriting like I should be, but I’ve had an epiphany. I have to do it, I must do, my mind wants me to do it. I will no longer make the excuse not to go after my dream career, no more excuses for not using the gift that I have. Time is of the essence, I’m not getting any younger and the ideas that are flowing in my mind are so eager to find themselves on a piece of paper or on a computer screen.
To all the dreamers out there, I’m asking you to think about your passion. What is that one thing that completes you? What makes you feel like you’re on cloud nine even though you’re not? What gives you an euphoric feeling that is impossible to express with words? What is something you can do without getting paid? What puts a smile on your face on a daily basis? We all have that one thing, its now time for you to find your talent, your gift and use it to the best of your ability. There is no point in having a dream if you’re not willing to go after it. Thinking about it is one thing, but actually doing it is another.
By Trevor Roberts
