Inability means not being able to do something, no matter how hard you try. It's different from simply choosing not to do something or not trying. When you have an inability to do something, there's a real barrier stopping you.

A person with an inability to swim can't cross a deep river safely, even if they desperately want to reach the other side. Someone with an inability to see colors can't tell you whether a shirt is red or green, no matter how closely they look. A beginning piano student has an inability to play Beethoven's most complex sonatas because they haven't developed the necessary skills yet.

Sometimes inability is permanent, like a fish's inability to breathe air. But often inability is temporary and can be overcome with practice, learning, or the right help. A seven-year-old might have an inability to solve algebra problems, but by age twelve, those same problems might feel easy. A person who speaks only English has an inability to read a French novel, but after studying French for several years, that inability disappears.

When you recognize an inability honestly, you can figure out whether it's something you can change through effort or something you need to work around in other ways.