A point of pride

When I have time, I have been known to e-mail a friend or two, and in the last two days, two people have vaguely echoed one another. One person, a co-worker in fact, broke loose with "You are way too talented to be working inside sales at *censored*." or something very, very similar to that, while another person complimented my writing talent.
I am blushing. And happy. Because really, I like to be noticed as talented. Even more so in fields where I am entertaining. I have had professors who were talented students. They were also talented at curing insomnia. That is not who I want to be. I want people to enjoy my company.
But it really begs the question. If I am actually that talented, why am I still working essentially a dead-end job? Oh, to be sure, I like my job. I usually enjoy what I do. And I really, really like the people I work with.
For the longest time I could not figure it out. Then, tonight, as I was trying to cook a new dish, it occurred to me why someone as talented as I am alleged to be would be working where I am.
You see, I am not a spice lover. I like mild spices at best, if any. When I made "smoky chipotle" fajitas a couple weeks ago, it almost killed me. So tonight, making a new dish, I used seasonings titled "Hot & Spicy". And that, in a nutshell, is how I have killed my talent. Moments of genius separated by bouts of stupidity.