Can your talent help you solve all equations in the arithmetic of life? Do people hate you even though you are talented?
Sometimes talent that has helped you gain the greatest accolades in life becomes a hurdle for accolades in relationships. Often the most talented people are the loneliest people.
While talent is enough to deal with the world, a good attitude is mandatory to deal with your world. Talent is useful in handling things and projects, but a good attitude is essential in handling people and relations. Talent molds our actions, while attitudes mold our reactions. Talent is like rain given by god, while attitude is like a farm cultivated by man. In many cases talents are like an air pump that bloats up the ego, but good attitude is a meter gauge that keeps the ego under check and prevents it from bursting.
In the Mahabharata, both Karna and Arjuna were equally talented but Krishna chose Arjuna because he had a good attitude. Success did not make him boastful nor did failure make him depressed. On the other hand, Karna boasted of his superior skills at every instance and lamented frequently about his inferior birth. Karna used his talent as a means to shield his deep insecurities. Exhibition of talent is an expose of one’s weakness when the attitude behind it is negative.
A talented person is bound by the ropes of perfectionism. If he comes across an embarrassment (which is bound to happen at some point in life), in spite of his unlimited talent he shrivels up with depression or bursts out with frustration.
A person who has a good attitude soars high like a kite through the thread of accommodation, though grounded in discipline. Even if he comes across a disappointment or a setback that his talent cannot tackle, rather than press the panic button, he turns on the cooling shower of acceptance.
Life moves on without talent but relationships wither without the right attitude. We will never be appreciated for the rigidity that self-absorbing talent brings along, but will attract others with the flexibility that altruistic good attitude inculcates.
No perfectionist can perfectly overcome imperfections. Better to mold oneself to be an accommodationist who can be grateful in the presence of his perfections knowing that they are products of god’s benevolence. He is further accommodative of his shortcomings knowing that they are opportunities to exhibit flexibility and a chance for him to depend on other people and thus access their love.
Subha Vilasa Dasa is a motivational speaker and a spiritual lifestyle coach. He is also the author of the six-volume series Ramayana — The Game of Life (Book 1). His email: ramayana.shubhavilas@gmail.com