Every person undoubtedly has a hidden talent, and often not the only one. Some talents appear in early childhood, and some need time to mature and manifest themselves. The whole point is that sometimes a person does not even realize that he has a talent. He thinks, well, I like to do certain things, so what? Well, I can spend days on end doing this activity, well, I get great pleasure from it, but so what? In this we tend to devalue ourselves. Where do we form this habit? Often in childhood, a child, doing various things, runs to show his achievements to his parents. He comes running with burning eyes, his heart is pounding, and sometimes, while still approaching, he announces his appearance by shouting “Mom, dad, look what I did, or look how I did it, or listen to what I can do.” Parents, due to their fatigue or problems, or many other “adult” reasons, react to this either smoothly or with a dry “Well done.” And sometimes just leave me alone, I’m tired, or let’s do it later (and that’s later, due to various circumstances, it may never come). And the child understands that the joy that he experienced from such an exciting activity, the results of which he so sincerely wanted to share, is not at all important and has no meaning for others. This is how a mechanism is formed and stored in my head - everything that I can do and that makes me happy is of no value to those around me. After all, if mom and dad (or other significant adults) do not attach importance to this or even scold it, then it is definitely something not important. Children grow into adults and these adults already think that they have absolutely no talents, all that they they do it mediocrely and uninterestingly. They are afraid to show and discuss their skills with someone (remember, in childhood they were devalued for this and were even scolded). This is how talented writers write quietly and read it themselves, people with beautiful voices sing at best during family get-togethers and even when you’ve had a fair amount of drink, and subtle artists draw in diaries to record things for the week. Take a closer look at your children, perhaps Stars are growing next to you, which will grow stronger and turn into bright heavenly bodies that will illuminate and fill the world with wonderful things. Let these little seeds sprout. And yes, take a closer look at yourself, remember what you loved to do as a child, and not only that! Perhaps you will rediscover your long-forgotten and once frightened talent. Give yourself a chance! After all, as the great Confucius said, “Choose a job you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” With love, your psychologist Yulia Semakina.