When I was a kid, I was crap at art, but I loved doing it and wanted to improve my craft every day. It got to a point that I was starting to get a good grasp on it. 

My classmates didn't see it that way... probably because they were jealous. That didn't sting as much as my mother's disapproval, though. She saw my work, thought it was worthless, and threw them all in the trash. When I asked her why she would do that, her response was, and I quote, "if you can't be good at it the first time, why bother?" What a hurtful thing to say to a kid, especially your own. That stuck with me for so long that it took years for me to get out of that mindset.

But... when my niece was getting into art, my mom praised her and supported her because she's a natural. I called my mom out on her hypocrisy, telling her that I would've been good at art had she not shut down my early efforts. Why is it OK when she does it but when I do it it's not OK? All she could muster for a response is... silence.

I later learned that this is a cultural thing. The idea of "if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything" is laughable to a lot of Asian cultures, seeing it as Western naïvete. No small wonder why Mary Sue characters are popular with them.