Do you know that devastating feeling of throwing away food? Whether it’s because it’s spoiled or because we miscalculated the quantities… No one likes the feeling of wasting food.

Combating food waste makes perfect sense for both practical and moral reasons. From a practical point of view, it is foolish to waste food that is not used. Food is expensive to produce and involves a lot of work and money before it reaches our plates. Throwing it away is foolish.

Although throwing food away may seem irrelevant in everyday life, from a moral point of view it is terrible to know that it is sorely missed by those who do not have it.

Fortunately, there is commitment to this fight: from associations that are dedicated to reducing waste in restaurants and supermarkets. In our homes, our conscience (and wallet) also reminds us to better calculate the meals and food that we really need.

Interestingly, there is another type of waste that is worse, but we don't notice it. We don't really see what we are throwing away, because it is invisible. We don't know how much it costs, because we don't know its value. It is a waste of our abilities and talents.

So many people with fabulous abilities that simply go unused.

Let us imagine that Dostoevsky had never written or that Mozart had devoted himself to agriculture… or that Steve Jobs had not worked or that Churchill had not gone into politics or that Mother Teresa had not helped the poor… how much would humanity not lose?

And these are the famous examples, but just think about how in our simple lives people who are truly realizing their talent make a difference.

Not using our potential is a practical and moral waste.

Practical because we lose so much talent in companies, families and society. It is heartbreaking to see such capable people in organisations where their talents are not even taken into account. Companies may be sitting on a gold mine, but they don’t even realise it. Of course, it is a difficult puzzle to reconcile individual interests with collective interests, but it is worth understanding the contours of each piece, realising that each person can contribute and fit into the company in unexpected but valuable ways. It is worth knowing what truly captivates each person and what they would do if they didn’t have to earn money? There may be a computer scientist who has a natural talent for music and would make a fantastic podcast, there may be an accountant who loves gardening and who can transform the ambience of a space, there may be a technician who has great empathy with people and would make an excellent salesperson…

It is also a moral waste, because what we do is essential for our personal fulfillment. Spending most of our time doing something that is below our capabilities is a crime. Using all of our talents is not a dream to follow, it is an obligation to fulfill!

We have a moral obligation not only to discover our talents but to use them! The world needs them.

And it’s not enough to just work; the same applies to our personal and family lives. If someone is good at welcoming people into their home, they should do it regularly! If someone has a talent for educating, they should develop it further! If someone is excited about being a father, they should live it generously!

Life has many dimensions, and we cannot demand the full realization of talents in all areas of our life, but we can and should seek and improve incessantly.

Not all of us have extraordinary talents, but we don't have to. Even the simplest things can be done in an extraordinary way.

Do we feel like our life is being wasted?

Great! It's a sign that there's something in us that isn't satisfied. Let's take it seriously and look for more.

If we have a job where our abilities are underutilized, we can't wait for someone else to take them forward; we have to do it ourselves! No one is going to carry us around; others already have their own lives and concerns; let's not delegate our future to anyone else. That's our job and no one else's: to discover and use our full capabilities.

What if we have a job where we don't use our potential, but we can't give up the income that work gives us?

So let’s spend our time outside of work developing these skills, thinking about what can be changed, and implementing small improvements consistently! What is guaranteed is that if we repeat what we have always done, we will not achieve change. It is in our hands to put an end to the greatest waste: our talent.

We are called to fulfill what we were born to do.

Big things start small. Let's start from the beginning.