“Character accelerates the growth of talent.” – Tom Coughlin

 Coughlin is a Super Bowl winning football coach of the National Football League’s New York Giants. Like most coaches, he prefers his players are gifted with physical ability and the high character to get the most out of it.

 People of high character realize that talent is an ingredient not the finished dish. Certainly, we are blessed with different levels of skill and talent. Whatever our original inventory, it is not as good as it could be. We are not to settle, but put it to work.

 People of high character realize that talents are a gift not an entitlement. There is such a thing as being “born lucky”.  You can be born with a quicker mind than most or fleeter feet. You can be born in the right family or blessed with best school district. The opposite can happen as well. Character demands that you count your advantages as fortune.

People of high character accept accountability for making their gifts and talents count. They regard wasting opportunities to use their talents for benefit to be unacceptable. Having realized their fortune, they are humble enough to guard it and treat it like treasure.

 Thus, character accelerates development. We all have gifts. Are we committed to making them count?