I’m prompted to write this this morning having just started to read Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, “Born to Run”. In this, he describes his early life from which some of the things that drive him can be gauged. Such books form a large part of my reading matter as I’m fascinated by what makes people tick; why they are as they are and do what they do. Things that are central, I think, to their being. I also, as anyone who has ever read any of my witterings will know, am convinced that most people never realise the full extent of their talents. That is a shame for them and for the country they live in.
As an example, I am an older, middle class, white male yet cannot believe that my age group, gender and ethnic background especially equip me for being within a group that, not only has its hands on most of the instruments of power, but also get very well paid for the privilege. As I read somewhere, talent is spread evenly throughout society whereas the resources to develop it aren’t.
If you should consider that I am talking though my hat, I would point out the fact that I’ve had a number of incarnations in this life and only really started to tread that “Road not Taken” when as an unemployed single parent on benefits, I got as place on a job creation scheme in the voluntary sector. The rest, as they say, is history. Here I am now, an award winning charity Director, author and public speaker. How many more are there out there who didn’t get the second chance that I did? Yes, I grabbed it but the opportunity was actually there for me to do so.
So, what makes you tick? What unrealised talents do you have and what is stopping you from taking that first small step towards where you’d like to be? After all, when they nail the coffin lid down, it really is too late!