The Normal Curve

The Normal Curve is in the shape of a bell, with few at the low end and few at the high end and most in the middle. Our talents can be identified specifically and these individual talents follow the normal curve.

We can have specific talents for art, athletics and academics. Our artistic talents can be segmented into playing music, singing, performing, drawing, painting, decorating and designing.  Our athletic talents can be segmented into gymnastics, playing baseball, football or other sports.  Our academic talent can be measured by reading speed, comprehension and knowledge.

Our interests will affect our choices in what talents we are drawn to develop. We usually like to do what we are good at.  But is possible to give up some of the things we are good at to do other things we also love to do or for practical reasons. It is possible to be good at something, but you can take it or leave it.  We usually don’t do well with things we are not good at and we often lose all interests in things we are not good at.  Some of our choices have to do with age, physical ability and time. It’s not uncommon to give up hobbies to pursue a career we can use to earn a living.

Our expertise in exercising our talents may be natural or developed. Some find that exercising their talent is easy; they are gifted. These are students who don’t need to struggle to learn; they are quick to understand most subject matter. There are gifted artists who create perfect drawings and paintings with no apparent effort. There are athletes who can study certain moves and replicate them and that is the “mental” part of some sports. They have the kind of exceptional mind-body control we see in expert gymnasts, skaters and divers.

There are other characteristics that are developed around out talents. Leadership often comes from knowing what to do. These leaders are keen to learn everything they can about their work and they become experts. They become leaders when others follow them. If they become irritating for others to deal with, they are stuck just being experts. Leaders that others follow are also blessed with credibility that may derive from being trusted. That is the role that character plays in developing leadership.

Leaders have varying degrees of curiosity, motive and a sense of mission. They usually have the ability to look at things and improve them. If they are accomplishment oriented, they want to fix things they have identified as needing improvement.  They will go wherever they need to go to find what they love to do. 

Activities most people regard as hobbies can turn into careers if you’re good enough. I have a dear friend from high school named Mike Peters. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist who has had a very successful career as an Editorial Cartoonist, the creator of the comic strip “Mother Goose and Grim” and his website is Grimmy Inc. Mike started to draw as soon as he could hold a pencil.  He loved Disney cartoons and drew them through his grade school years.  He drew like a talented adult professional by the time he entered high school.  He was a child prodigy. After high school he received a BFA degree and joined “Stars and Stripes”. After his military service, he joined the Sun Times as an editorial cartoonist.  He later became the Editorial Cartoonist for the Dayton Daily News.  He syndicated after winning the Pulitzer and has been cartooning ever since. Mikes teachers would always tell him that he can’t draw cartoons forever and he would just smile knowing that they were wrong.  Mike was at the top of the normal curve as a cartoonist.

I’ve known other child prodigies including actresses Marsha Mason and Mary Frann Luecke. They were not like most other girls.  They knew what they wanted to do from an early age and spent their time honing their craft.  Marsha was addicted to the stage and became a major star and film director. Mary Frann was very poised and focused. She worked as a child model and became the first “America’s Junior Miss” when she was 18. She worked in movies and is best know for her TV role on the Bob Newhart Show.

There is a normal curve for everything. Some are at the bottom and some are at the top and most are somewhere in the middle.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader