#ULOG- MY TALENT: The Purpose of Hobbies, Skills and Hardships

As a kid, I used to view my childhood as an opportunity to learn various skills, and to develop and polish talents. I don't specifically know how did I came to this kind of thinking. It just came to me one morning after I woke up. Maybe it's from an inspiration from me special someone or maybe I just thought that it was cool to learn stuff.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the gifted genius OP character in the story of my life. In fact, compared to my brothers, I'm the dumbest out of all of them but that doesn't mean I don't have anything to say when it comes to talent. As my mom used to say to me, "When it comes to academics, your the lowest of the bunch but if we're talking about art, I'd say you're pretty much at the top (comparing it to my brothers)". And yes, it's true, although I thought at first it was my other brother whom was the dumbest and I was just second to him... well I guess not haha XD.

I used to draw a lot when I was a kid and when it came to playing active games, I dominate the players with my genetically inherited athlete-like body. Even though I was the thinnest amongst the group, I was the fastest and strongest (compared to age and body size). As for my drawing skills, it didn't go to far. I remember drawing naruto once, then I placed it in the waiting shed near my school, and the next thing I knew it, it was gone. I knew someone stole it because it was a attached to a clipboard placed near my bag. Well anyway, I have an interest in anime back then and I even thought of making a manga, but then again thoughts are just thoughts. Without actions, their useless... but I can't blame myself. As a kid who wants to be a jack of all trades, time was a valuable asset. I couldn't afford to pay hours for practicing my drawing skills or better yet I deemed it it was enough for me to learn how to draw, and so I moved on to discover other talents. I also tried animation.

I came across my father's electric guitar when I was 11 yrs old and from then on I ended up almost bankrupt. Note that the first time I had a crush was when I was in grade 3 (8 yr old me) and I had only consiered her as my "one and only crush" during that time. By the time I got the chance to hold a guitar I was in grade 6 elem. As an introvert, my feelings developed through time, and as I reached highschool, emotions began spilling out. Back then, in the Philippines, k-12 system was not yet implemented.

It was a disaster, an explosion of different kinds of emotions along with various experiences. Without realising it, I spent days and nights composing my songs, learning fingerstyle, reading tabs and creating my own fingerstyle arrangements, and because of that I lost a lot of time to develop other skills (except for table tennis).

Most of the time I regret it but some times I don't. Looking at it at a different angle, not many kids my age can compose songs and arrange fingerstyle versions of songs the way I do.

After all those things that happened to me: all the hardships of using anything as a substitute for the tools for drawing that I don't have; all the calluses, tired voice and aching body that I experienced having after spending nights composing and practicing songs; and after facing all the heartbreaking comments about my art and songs from my friends, family and from other people, I thought to myself what is the purpose of it all.

I found the answer after I had kids :3.

I became a small instrument of God to teach children how to use their talent to praise and worship Him who gave it to them :)

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

—Proverbs 22:6

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I hope you enjoyed listening to my inner thoughts :3

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