START BY DOING WHAT'S NECESSARY

 



“The beautiful thing about setbacks is,

that they introduce us to our strengths.”

Robin Sharma

 

I am never tired of telling young kids this: “Look, you need to know your strengths and build your self-confidence around it.” When I invite them to share some of their strengths, often, I find them clueless. They seem confused between talents and strengths; sometimes, between skills and strengths. I tell them this: “Talents are God-given; you are born with them… When you become self-aware, you discover, that you have a talent to sing, dance, speak, write, paint, design, play sport, tell stories etc.”

We all are born with some of these talents. When we become aware of them, some of us go about turning them into fine skills… While some of us do it on our own (self-develop), others do it through training and coaching. That’s why some of us join classes for drawing, singing, dancing, speaking, designing, teaching etc. Every talent can be turned into a fine skill – and when we possess a few skillsets, we, invariably, feel self-confident in life…

But, then, the emphasis of today’s Post is on becoming aware of our ‘strengths’. I tell young kids, “Strengths are the positive traits of your personality.”

I  can be punctual… I can be committed… I am good in managing money, time and people… I am good in organizing events… I am good in mixing up with all kinds of people… I am able survive with little money… I can forgive easily… I don’t worry excessively… I am curious… I can take risks… I am health conscious… I am good with children and elderly… I am sensitive to my surroundings and nature… I am not ashamed of wearing simple clothes, using local transport, living in a simple accommodation, doing any kind of labour etc.

Some may say - ‘No big deal’… It’s a big deal, Sir…

Getting up early, making our beds, doing dishes, cleaning toilets, washing clothes, doing some cooking, walking more, spending time with elderly, mixing with people, listening with patience, arguing less, helping resolve conflicts, fasting, waiting, flaunting less, doing quiet charity, reading more, avoiding gossip, managing screen time etc., etc. -  yes, this list includes some our strengths – the positive traits of our personality…




The more I think about it, the more convinced I get, that knowing our strengths and using them for our personal growth is the best currency at our disposal…

We just need to ‘see’ it… so that we can ‘use’ it…



 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: Pixabay

 

Video: Tales of Monisha

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BUT, NOT INTO EACH OTHER'S KEEPING...

Image
"If you can not love yourself, You can not love another.” I meet many young college students who are head-over-heals in relationship. They call it ‘Love’. One of the most difficult things to deal with in such relationship, for most of them, is: the desperate clinging of the other partner. “Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t you meet? Where did you go? What did you do? Who was there with you? Why can’t we go out? Why did you wear this? Why did you go there? Why? What? When? Who? Where? Whose?... Yes, all the possible ‘W’s’ in the world. Yes, in the world of our ‘Love Birds’. What starts as some romantic sweet-nothings, now is marred with endless probing, judging, accusing, blaming, sulking, fighting and pain. Most of them are unprepared to deal with this volatile shift… They end up hurting each other; more importantly, they end up hurting themselves. They begin to wonder: Where has all the sweetness gone? Why am I feeling so lonely now? Why is this suffocation? This fear? T...
Read more

THE SPANISH DANCE

Image
I remember reading this little story, many years ago. It was in Shiv Khera’s famous book: ‘YOU CAN WIN’. A man had a dog with an unusually special gift: he could run over water! Now, what a special gift that was, in deed! This man, obviously, felt proud about his gifted dog… and many, many people complimented him on it. He, undoubtedly, felt good about it. Then, one day, this man happened to meet an old, dear friend. He wanted to show this friend the special talent of his dog and took him along for hunting. They went to the countryside. There, he proudly demonstrated to his friend the unique talent of his dog. Every time he shot down a bird from the sky, the gifted dog, like a missile, would speed over the water, and fetch back the bird to his master. It happened repeatedly. “Did you see, my friend?” the man asked with immense pride. “Yes, I did?” replied the friend. “What did you see?” the man wanted to be reassured. “That, your dog can not swim!” Last night, I proudly ...
Read more

THEY NEED SUN, NOT TOO MUCH SHADE

Image
      “And stand together yet not too near together: For, the pillars of the temple stand apart And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s company.” Kahlil Gibran in ‘The Prophet’ I n his remarkable book, ‘The Prophet’, Kahlil Gibran’s famous lines might have been in response to the request – “Master, say something about Marriage”… Yes, it might have been used to emphasize on the need for ‘space’ in marital relationships… yet, in a larger context, ‘space’ is a universal thirst in every kind of relationship… You see, humans cannot grow in shade… They get suffocated, and die! In our summer programme on Personality Development, we, always, hold the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’ first. The reason: a healthy self-esteem is the foundation for the healthy development of one’s personality… During the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’, the facilitator (Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati) helps the participants to reflect on the major parental messages that impact s...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...