What to do when you're not the best

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no bird sang except the best."

Henry van Dyke, an American author

This thought came to my mind this morning. We can't all be the best at something. Sometimes we are just average, or even less than average. So do we shut down? No, we go forward doing the best we can.

I think of the parable of the talents. We are all expected to multiply the talents we have. It doesn't matter if the talents we have are few in number or lacking in amazement. We still need to work hard with what we have been given and be happy for what we have.

The fact that someone else possesses more of a certain talent does not lessen the fact that you have that talent, too. There will always be someone who can do something better than you. But, by the same token, there will always be someone who can't do something as well as you can.

We are all individuals and we aren't expected to be more than we are. We are expected to try hard and be thankful for what we have been given.

Just a couple scriptures:

Doctrine and Covenants 10:4

Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end.

Mosiah 4:27

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.