“It is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.” – Albus Dumbledore
I imagine talent as a lump of precious metal — rare, shiny and impressive but ultimately useless on its own. Useless, that is, until a blacksmith gets their hands on it. You see, you are the blacksmith. The blacksmith uses hard work and dedication to create something beautiful out of a lump of metal. They immerse the alloy into the hottest of flames and hammer it with their tools. While the process is full of love, it is also grueling, slow and difficult, but the finished product is not only impressive but valuable beyond measure and one of a kind.
Talent is the same way, useless on its own but when immersed into the flame of hard work and dedication, something amazing emerges from the fire. Some parts come easy, other parts push us to our limits (sometimes even past them). Our talent is stretched, burned and beaten, ultimately to be honed into something one of a kind.
For the last two years, my writing has sat as a lump of precious metal. Useless. Unused. Collecting dust. But even now with blogging and digging 
back into my manuscripts, I’m starting to shake off the dust. Both journeys — fitness and writing — are not easy. Days exist where I don’t want to put in the work. I don’t want to workout. I don’t want to sit at my computer and force my fingers to dance across its keys. Still, I choose to invest in these journeys because I know the results will be worth it. I know my talent is worth it. I know my dreams are worth it. I am worth it. And so are you.
Everyone has ability. The important part is what we choose to do with that ability. Do we choose to let it remain a lump of precious metal? Or do we work it into something beautiful?
The choice is yours.
