I know the title of this article may sound inflammatory, and many of you are itching to contradict me: to proclaim that you are not a "math person," not a "people person," not an "English person," to shout that there are certain areas to which you are simply not inclined. It is becoming increasingly more common for people to excuse themselves by insisting that a particular area is not their forte, but it really should stop.

Before I continue, I must clarify. I fully understand that not everyone has the same inclination towards mathematics or whatever subject comes to mind. We are blessed with various gifts, abilities, inclinations and desires, and thus some people will find math fascinating and enjoyable while others simply stare at numbers that seem a foreign language. This is perfectly natural and expected and should be embraced. Some are gifted with abilities in mathematics and analysis and called to serve in such areas of problem solving, while others are gifted with creative abilities and called to utilize them. I myself am not mathematically inclined, I freely admit. Some may excel naturally in the world of music and melody, while others, like myself, cannot hold a tune or maintain a beat.

That said, this truth is often used to draw dangerous implications that harm our lives. When we do poorly in a class or in an event, our response should not immediately be, “I am not a [insert topic] person.” Again, I understand this, but at the same time, we cannot blame our inclinations for what we produce. If fail your calculus class after you took intensive notes, attended every class, talked to your professor, sought special tutoring and took practice quizzes, then your lack of natural inclination towards math is indeed an understandable cause for your struggle in this class. However if you fail this class after skipping most of the lectures and ignoring assignments and not paying attention, then this is not a valid excuse for your failure.

In other words, while our inclinations are real and important, they are not get-out-of-jail-free cards to neglect trying. We have our own personal struggles and difficulties, but we still have a moral obligation to do our absolute best, to strive wholeheartedly to accomplish what we must. The mind is not a static piece of plastic or metal, a computer that works in one particular way, but rather an organic piece of human tissue that can grow and learn, form new synaptic patterns and think in new ways. We can grow in mental abilities and learn new things!

Don’t use your inclinations and desires as an excuse to neglect stretching your mind and abilities. Don’t talk about how you are not a “blank” person, but in full recognition of your limits, strive wholeheartedly to grow yourself and your own abilities.