Yesterday was a big day. I made a huge step, probably the biggest of my life so far. When you're visible as I am and you do something like this, you get a lot of feedback. Much of it is supportive, and there's also criticism. Criticism, isn't a bad thing—I see it as a chance to reflect and an opportunity to challenge yourself and grow. After going through a few opinions, I started doubting that I've actually done anything tangible, anything worth doing. There was a perspective shared that it's more important to build things than just think about them. That person made a good point—and so I chewed it over for a while.
I started thinking about my own abilities. What do I do best? Well, I visualize thoughts and ideas (above)—that's the gift I've been given. And immediately I began feeling like I had the wrong gift, and it brought all kinds of memories back, realizing that I was never really good at "making" things. I learned this early on in woodworking shops. It's never been my thing.
And the thoughts continued, you begin to wish you had different abilities and you doubt yourself. It's only natural. But then it hit me.
You have to work with the gifts you're given.
This is something I have to remind myself. You're given a select set of abilities in this world which you can either nurture or ignore. You have to work with what you have, this is a moment of clarity that can make all the difference. And what about the things you wish you could do? That's where you surround yourself with the people who complement you. You seek those who do things you can't. You look for people who will challenge and inspire you. If you can't put your thoughts into words, you find people who can write. If you can't build something with your hands, you work with those who can. If you're not good at business but have ideas that are, you partner with someone that's your complement. It's moments like these in life where you immediately ask yourself, "do I have what it takes"? I'm hoping the answer for me is using whatever gifts I've been given to build something meaningful, knowing all along that I can't do it alone.
