Celebrate Your Strengths Instead of Pushing Yourself to Be Better

Performance review. Testing. Testing. Awesome review of the year. Most of us have run some kind of way to ensure quality while being employed by American employees, or at least know who has it.

Testing is part of normal life where I work and something I am very familiar with now. I usually get good points and the exam includes a lot of praise and good acknowledgment, as well as any constructive criticism appropriate to the test work.

Usually I can look at the test form, see what needs to be noticed, and move on. I am able to accept feedback when needed, use it properly, and recognize the strengths of others and acknowledge them along the way. I'm doing well, actually.

Most days, doing well is enough. But sometimes I feel that something is missing. That I can still do better. That's enough is not really satisfying. That if I don’t always check how I’m doing and fight for something better, something is wrong. That in welcoming others, my voice is exhausted and there is not much left for me to admit.

Although I can clearly see the power of others and name them over and over again, I do not always recognize and acknowledge them to myself. I have a habit of wanting to admit it but I fired you when it came.

I wish I could be known for doing well but I don't know how I would react when that desire is satisfied.

When I get an answer - even if it agrees with it - my automatic response is usually set to "how can I do this better?" It is easy to get caught up in the thought that there is always room for improvement, and then to focus on what has already been done or what doesn't need to be done.

There is nothing wrong with striving for self-improvement, career growth, building skills, or finding how to be successful in what we choose to use our time to do. But I think we sometimes spend all our time figuring out how to improve ourselves, how to grow professionally, how to build the best skills, or how successful we are.

We are so caught up in the growth and development that we forget to respect the life we ​​have now.

I know I’m stuck in the maze of our culture “more often, better, faster” more often than I care to admit.

What if I could take my common good opinion and shape it into a way of being the one who puts my fault in accepting wherever I am in my work, or in my relationships, or in the state of my life? What if I could celebrate what it is?

What if I could focus on the strengths and talents I have - such as being able to see the good in a challenging situation, or finding happiness hidden under anxiety, or baking really good bread, or always knowing where the keys are - and accepting anything from that focus?

What if we all focus on what we already are, or at what we already bet, rather than on what we feel is a weakness that needs to be corrected?

Perhaps the purpose of celebrating the perfection we already have will allow us to transform into an organization based on acceptance and peace and not focusing too much on aspirations.

Perhaps embracing the perfection that lies beneath our struggle would help move us to more than we can imagine - a space without limits and just enough space. Time.

The quest for growth and the building of knowledge and the presence of invitations to do good by creating a space for that which works well for existence and development. But perhaps we cannot grow unless we first see ourselves as perfect.

The beauty I invite in a welcoming manner may be different from what I have been taught to strive for over the years. It may be that "living in my own strength" means moving slowly, or moving forward a little. It can mean resisting the urge to try to be what I am not. It can mean listening to more understanding and listening to less response.

I think it also means standing up to see the beauty of a rainstorm, or to feel the explosion of leaves as the wind changes direction, or to feel the warmth of the sun after a mist.

It means looking into the eyes of a different person and seeing the truth shown in the background.

It means accepting myself completely and completely, and letting that acceptance grow into my version of perfection.

I would say that there is no such thing as a perfect life and that there is always room for improvement and growth. I think I'll be right.

I would say that all life is perfect if it is allowed. And I think I'll still be fine.

Living with strength is not easy. But living within our means sets us up for our own unique version of perfection. Accepting anything good looks reminds us that we are good enough