In the Bible (Matthew 25) we read about the parable of the talents. A man gives his servants talents, according to their several abilities. One servant gets 5, another 2, and the last servant receives only one. Talents were money back in the day, but the name translates well to a modern understanding.
The servant who only received 1 talent, feels so afraid and ashamed that he buries the talent in the ground. He was so caught up in comparing himself to the other servants and noticing what he didn't have, that he didn't do anything with or appreciate the gift he was given. He hid it away and it became useless. Sound familiar?
But what I actually want to focus on are the servants who received 5 and 2 talents, who multiplied what they had. They invested and made more than what they had been given. When they returned to their lord, he said the same thing to both, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."
It really didn't matter in the end that one of the servants started out with 2 talents and the other started out with 5. That wasn't why they were made rulers of many things. They were made rulers because of what they did with what they had.
This is true for you too. If you get caught up in comparing and despairing, you won't see any progress for yourself. However, if you focus on making the most of what you have right now, exercising your creativity, using the resources of time, information, money, or materials that ARE available to you, your talent will shine through and increase.
The very best artists can still do great work, even if you don't give them much to work with as far as materials and tools because how you do one thing is how you do everything. If you can do great work with great materials, you can also do great work with not so great materials. What you do with what you have really matters more than what you have or where you start out.
You'll manage a crew the same way you'll manage a family, you'll follow a budget the same way you do (or don't) now, you'll express yourself artistically the way you currently express yourself, how your film looks will reflect the way you and your home look, etc. If you don't feel pleased with these aspects of your life as they currently are, please don't let this thought discourage you. Rather, it can encourage you to practice now with the materials in front of you.
One of the best ways to practice good leadership is by teaching your kids and managing a home the way you would on a production. How do you perform under stress when it's loud and everyone is bidding for your attention? How do you problem-solve the unexpected? You can practice being organized by following a schedule and budget in your personal life. Do you have a system in place? Do you keep accurate records? Do you follow the plans you make for yourself? You can be artistic with how you decorate your home using the materials that are available to you. Have you properly executed what you intended? Have you designed intentionally? What feeling have you created through the aesthetics of your personal space?
You can start practicing now. The only real barrier to entry is how faithful you have been over the few things you have. If you can't execute your talent in "small things" yet, you aren't ready to do the "big things" yet. And you'll know you are when you experience something to the effect of:
"Well done thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the rest of thy lord."
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