[This post inspired by the Weekend Prompting from this past week's Weekend Treats, which was inspired by paperkingdoms, who got it from a Ravelry thread. I'd love to hear some of your own items!]
I’ve fought with writing (and posting!) this, because it sometimes seem like I’m bragging, and these things should be kept in my head. And yet, there are times that my brain, my silly silly brain, wants to tell me that I’m making it all up.
SO! This is about self-care and a go-to list for when I’m feeling like crap and when I need to be reminded that I’m not full of crap, but instead, there are some things I’m pretty daggone good at. This is for the days when I feel like I can do nothing right. This is for days of downheartedness and negative self-talk.
Onward!
I’m good at getting curious about things. It’s probably the biggest reason I’ve spent so much time in school. I love learning and I wish I had more time to dive deeper into all of the things I want to learn. I even have a running list of thing I want to learn more about. Oh, curiosity, I heart you. (This also explains the crazy amount of books we own.)
Going along with this, I’m good at being able to pull things together into a coherent whole and write about it. Example: Two inches or more of research for a 15 page paper. LOVED writing it and am working to polish it more. I love doing things like that. Also fitting into this category is being able to organize large amounts of data into categories, outlines, etc.
And, further riffing on that, I’m good at putting together don’t-breathe-on-it-it’s-gonna-collapse schedules. I started honing this skill when I was a manager at Starbucks, but have gotten really good at it the past few semesters, trying to organize myself and still get together with friends sometimes.
I’m really good at getting excited about things. You need a cheerleader about something? I’m your gal. I love celebrating the good and I love reminding people of the things that they can do and have done.
I’m really good at tasting coffee. I’ve lost a touch of what I used to be working around it all of the time, but still? Mmmm… I love tasting coffee, picking out hints of this or that. I love learning about where it’s from and how that makes a big difference in how it ultimately tastes.
I’m really good at trying new music. I’m game for almost anything and in fact, my music collection runs the gamut. (No, really. I mean it.) I love trying out new things and giving it a chance. There’s so much I’ve learned from being open to different music.
I’m good at wranglin’ guinea pigs. They can be quick little buggers when they don’t want to be picked up, but I’m pretty good at it!
What about you? What are you really good at?
It’s a good list.
Possibly as an off-shoot of curiosity, you’re also good at listening, and questions. <3
Thank you, and thank you for the addition. :) *huge hugs*
Great big hugs!
YAY!
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Love this idea! I don’t believe that recognizing our talents is inherently bragging. If they are not recognized it becomes difficult to express gratitude for them. Knowing the abilities I have been given or that have been developed over time allows me to recognize how I can help others. I also believe that those abilities are part of my pathway to reaching my full potential.
What I have done for myself in this area is that I started writing daily in a journal specifically focused on self-worth and value.
Thanks, Clair! And I love the image of being able to recognize (and own!) my own strengths in order to help others find their strengths, too. And, to be grateful for them, rather than see them as potential burdens.
I love the idea of a journal focused on self-worth and value. Do you use specific prompts or is it a “This is what went well today” journaling.. or, something I haven’t even thought of, ever? I would love to know!
Right now I have been trying to pick apart the way unworthiness has woven itself through my life. Each day when I experience something that reveals a piece of that web I pull out the journal and write. I use a small moleskin notebook I can carry in my pocket so that I can write while the impressions are fresh. My plan is that once I have a clear view of that web of unworthiness I will shift my focus to writing about the specific ways I am untangling myself from it and practicing what is needed to cut free from all the ways it tries to keep me stuck.
That is amazing, courageous work, my friend. Kudos to you for it, and for sharing pieces of your journey with us over at Canffirmations.
Thank you.
I’d also be curious to hear how that practice informs/shapes/changes your day, as well as how it’s begun to inform/transform your life.
For now (only have a week or so of practice so far) it has allowed me to see something a little differently every day. Inevitably some thought or experience will give me a small bit of insight into the web that unworthiness weaves and it has also given me a little boost in my overall shame resistance. I have seen enough of a difference to keep me committed to seeing where this takes me.
*high five* to the boost in overall shame resistance! Thank you for sharing your process and your experience so far with this.