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There was a man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player. People came in just to hear him play. But one night, a patron[1] told him he didn’t want to hear him just play anymore. He wanted him to sing a song.

The man said, “I don’t sing.”

But the customer was persistent[2]. He told the bartender, “I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!”

The bartender shouted across the room, “Hey buddy[3]! If you want to get paid, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!”

So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song “Mona, Mona Lisa” sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole[4]!

He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar, but because he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.[5]

You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your “talent” is particularly great, but it may be better than you think! And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess! The better question is not “What ability do I have that is useful?” It is rather “How will I use whatever ability I have?”

在一家酒吧里，有一名男子在弹钢琴。他是位优秀的钢琴演奏者。人们来这里就是为了听他演奏。然而，有一天晚上，一位老主顾却告诉他再也不想听他的演奏了。顾客想让他唱首歌。

这名男子说：“我不唱歌。”

但顾客却很执著。他对酒吧的酒保说：“我听腻了钢琴演奏。我想让那个家伙唱歌！”

酒保在屋子的另一边大喊：“嘿，老兄！如果你想要拿到报酬，就唱首歌吧。老主顾们都要求你献唱呢！”

于是，他照做了。他唱了一首歌。一个在公众面前从未唱过歌的钢琴演奏者第一次献唱。而且从未有人听过像纳特•金•科尔那样在那天晚上用歌声演绎的《蒙娜丽莎》！

他拥有的才华被搁置了！他或许会在一个不知名的酒吧里做一个默默无闻的钢琴演奏者，以此度过余生，但因为他（因机缘巧合）不得不去唱歌，于是他继续发展，成为了美国最知名的艺人之一。

你同样也拥有才能与天资。你可能并不觉得自己的“才华”有多了不起，但它或许比你想象中的要更好！而且只要你有坚持不懈的毅力，你的大部分能力将会得以提高。另外，如果你搁置自己所拥有的才华（而不去开发）的话，你也许根本就不会再具备这份才能了！更有意义的问题并不是“我拥有何种实用有益的能力？”而是“我将如何发挥出自己所拥有的全部才能？”