Earning Interest on Our Talents

In the Parable of the Talents, it seems like there are two options for us - either we go out and double them, or we bury them in fear. But the Lord actually gives us a third option. When the fearful servant admitted that he buried the talent he was given, the Lord asked him, could he have not at the least given it to the exchangers, that he might have earned interest on it? I think sometimes we may feel that we've got to develop our talents all on our own and if we're not doubling them, then we're a failure or a disappointment. But the Lord isn't only pleased by us showing off how amazing we can be completely on our own. To give our talent to the exchangers would be to find mentors or coaches or tutors that can help us make small, incremental improvements to our talents. Interest works best when compounded frequently. The more and more we make daily, even tiny additions to our talents, the more we allow them to earn even tiny percentages of interest, the sooner we will find ourselves doubling our talents, even if in a much less dramatic fashion. We don't always have to either magically double our talents overnight or bury them out of sight. We can reach out to friends and helpers to make small, incremental additions to our talents day by day.