Everyone has a gift. Something they can do better than anybody else they know. Whether it’s an inborn talent like being able to read a room or doing cartwheels. or a learned skill like telling jokes or growing the biggest tomatoes.
Besides impressing a friend or neighbor with your special talent, it’s fun to share it with others by joining a group of people who have similar interests, like a community garden organization or a fitness club. You can also offer your expertise as part of a neighborhood timebank or teach a free class about it at your local library.
Community activists John McKnight and Peter Block even wrote a book about sharing our talents with others -- The Abundant Community. In it, they describe how the key to building strong and happy neighborhoods becomes a matter of everybody contributing as many of their gifts as they can to each other and to the whole.
When you ask folks what they feel they are especially expert at or could teach others, you get some surprising and even inspiring answers like these, sampled recently from Reddit and Quora:
I can wield a flyswatter with tenacity, expertise, and deftness unmatched by anyone I know.
-- Matthew Hsu, Quora
I've got some mad knife skills. I was cutting 50-pound bags of onions and slicing up cases of tomatoes when I was 15. "Geez, you can get a job working in a restaurant and handling a knife at 15 in the US?". Nope. Supposed to be 18, but the owner was an angry Irish guy who didn't care about things like "laws.”
-- Aragorn_71, Reddit
I am especially good at coming up with analogies to explain what I'm talking about to get people to understand concepts.
-- EmptyCOOLSTER, Reddit
How to choose a book for someone as a gift.
-- Cultured Ignorance, Reddit
Bartending tips and tricks.
-- Augusta Burns, Quora
Interviewing. I don't think I have any kind of professional edge when it comes to resumes or work experience, but for whatever reason once I'm able to get a job interview, I can usually take it all the way to the final stages/offer letter.
-- theonlydidymus, Reddit
I can teach you the importance of ASKING…
-- Anshul Sharma, Quora
In the following order:
4: Guitar
3: Bass
2: Sound engineering
1: Hailing taxis.
I have a supernatural ability to hail cabs. Hand out, BANG. Taxi.
-- famousninja, Reddit
Writing verse and song parodies that scan properly (it's surprisingly rare).
-- zem, Reddit
I can turn a square piece of paper into a scorpion. As a matter of fact, I can turn a square piece of paper into just about anything.
-- epicviking, Reddit
The best way to meditate.
-- Rohit N, Quora
Learning how to play the harmonica. Breathing, and learning 12-bar blues is a good start.
-- iComeInPeices, Reddit
How to teach children compassion.
-- Petey Lao, Quora
I can teach you how to tie a tie.
-- NeverHIElickedafoot, Reddit
Folding a fitted sheet.
-- ihavenoidea81
I'm very good at using humour around kids. Can't wait to become a teacher.
-- didaskaleinophobic, Reddit
How to properly wrap a gift.
-- gracepark, Reddit
Tongue twisters. I have yet to find one I can't say repeatedly, and I've never met anyone else who can do this. Guinness World Records says the most difficult one is, "The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick." Not even a challenge to me. MIT researchers say the hardest is, "Pad kid poured curd pulled cold." Even easier.
-- Scrappy_Larue, Reddit
Jump-starting a car.
-- cybergeek11235, Reddit
How to tie a bowline.
-- heemat, Reddit
Bleeding control and CPR.
-- JazzNeurotic, Reddit
I do not know that I have a "great" talent, but I can grow things - green, blooming, edible, smokable, you name it. Also, Alton Brown would weep with envy at some delish dishes I've cooked up in the kitchen.
-- SomeoneElsewhere, Reddit
I can tell the time without looking at the clock. People ask me at work what the time is, I say a time and am right. Interesting but not extraordinary.
-- Enshu, Reddit
I can always tell you where North is.
-- beer_is_my_god, Reddit
Proofreading.
-- EducationalTangelo6, Reddit
Teaching a dog to do tricks.
-- Terry Dinerman, Quora
Handling finances. So I decided to help others handle theirs and now that's what I do for a living.
-- DragonsLoooveTacos, Reddit
Punctuation and grammar. I just don't bother most of the time.
-- Empire_of_walnuts, Reddit
Pub trivia.
-- HelloImWernerHerzog
Holding my breath, 3 minutes or so.
-- OuterspaceNH, Reddit
Dealing and shuffling cards.
-- Chuchubear, Reddit
I can solve a Rubik's Cube with one hand while juggling two balls with the other hand.
-- Anay Shrikar, Quora
Waking up on time without needing an alarm.
-- Farhan, Quora
Drawing cartoons.
-- John Doe, Quora
I can motivate people. I can make people smile.
-- Hamna Younis Bhutta, Quora
I have a PhD in Chemistry. I can read ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, palms (I am a palm reader), I do artistic metal and welded sculpture, I drive race cars, rebuild engines, play my piano, pose for photos, sing, recite or narrate poetry or literature.
-- William Stephens, Quora
How to tie your shoes so they never slip loose.
-- Jess H. Brewer, Quora
Well, if you were here in person, I could teach you basic car repair. It will save you a lot of money in your life if you know how to do a few simple things that I do for my cars.
-- Matthew Bates, Quora
What is your best talent that you could teach others? (Scroll down to comment.)
Video by Pampampam/EnvatoElements
Feel free to share this story with others!