Get Some Life Balance! Key 4: Your Strengths

“What strengths, talents and abilities do I draw on?”

At some point when we were in school, we learned of Sir Isaac Newton’s Law that states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. By identifying of our strengths, talents, and abilities we can generate steady momentum toward our vision of greater health, fulfillment, and balance.

Like most teenagers, I went through my period of rebelling against my parents. I never got in trouble at school or with the law, but things at home were tough for quite a long time. One of the reasons was because I got into the habit of lying, and doing so a lot. I lied about big stuff and little stuff, to the point that my parents couldn’t trust me or my word.

My folks were at a loss as to what to do to get me to stop this potentially dangerous habit. Some may not agree that lying can become dangerous, but I’d remind those who are old enough to remember that it was people in positions of power who told many lies that essentially caused the near collapse of the banking systems and the Great Recession of 2008. But I digress…

One day my mom was looking through a copy of Sunset Magazine, and in it found a page of advertisements for programs to get troubled teens out of destructive behavior patterns and back on track to a positive and productive life. Not surprisingly, my mom read each and every one of these ads, probably several times over.

There was one program in particular that interested her most, a program that helps teens with unhealthy self-perceptions develop confidence and self-worth. About two weeks after my mom read that ad, I found myself in a desert in Idaho with six other troubled teens for a twenty-one day journey through what would be the most emotionally and physically challenging experience of my life.

Grueling hikes, food rations, no beds or shelter, no luxuries like toilet paper — this was my life for three long weeks. It was within the first couple of days, when I was being taught how to start a campfire with no matches, and learning the differences between the types of leaves to wipe yourself with versus poison ivy, that I understood what an amazing life I had back home with parents who loved me, and how this experience, as incredibly difficult as it was going to be, was going to change me for the better.

That wilderness program did exactly what it said it would do. It gave me confidence, self-worth, and it gave me strength. My mom took a photo of me on the day my parents came to pick me up on the last day of the program. My clothes are filthy, my face nearly black with three weeks of desert dirt and grime, but with a smile on my face that shows an appreciation for the life I have and for the new person I’d become. I keep that photo on my dresser today as a reminder of the strength I have to draw on.

Your strengths and talents, those you were born with and those you’ve acquired through your life experiences, are like arrows in your quiver to aim at your vision of good health, happiness, and balance. Sit down with pen and paper and ask yourself, "What strengths, talents and abilities do I possess?" It's important to write down anything positive that makes you who you are, without censoring. "I keep a clean work space" should be listed just as much as "I'm sensitive to other people’s needs and emotions”, and, “I’m a person who can be counted on.”

This exercise in acknowledging your “super powers” can help make your vision feel more real and attainable as well as making you feel capable of getting there.

Coming up, Key Number 5: "Knowing Your Challenges"