Our strengths are our weaknesses. Did that give you a slight chill? Alas, don’t forget that this also means that our weaknesses are our strengths. Does that somehow comfort us? Do the two statements sum to something greater than zero, less than, or exactly?
I feel that we spend way too much mental and physical time and resources trying to eliminate our weaknesses. They are us just like a cranky hip or a receding hairline. Mea oucha! My troublemaker hip really stimply stirs up the pot. It virtually forces me to be more thankful when I complete a long drive or a hike and have no pain. It allows me to be mindful. Of course, acetaminophen helps too.
The chance that I will be runover by a car is greatly reduced by my hypervigilant nature. Being always on the lookout for danger, though excessive for me, does provide protection. It extends beyond physical benefits to emotional and financial. I maintain a solid network of life-long friends that know they can count on me as I on them. Our finances are equally robust. Of course, having good jobs, being a nice guy, and having more than our fair share of luck doesn’t hurt either.
The challenge though is in bringing balance to our numerous varied parts. I can still be very vigilant, just not hypervigilant. Hypervigilance has big costs. It is taxing on the body and immune system. Do I really have another sinus infection already? It, like all things, and certainly all excessive things, shroud opportunity costs. I don’t see myself as taking up skiing in my fifties nor skydiving or even riding a motorcycle. Maybe I would have really liked skiing, lots of folks sure seem to.
There are the choices and actions that we take and those that we do not. Some are driven by strengths and others by weaknesses. All of which eliminate some things from the universe of possibilities while making other things feasible for the first time.
Sometimes they work in teams. I am really good at math. The downside of this strength is that it often teams up with my anxiety or fear or hypervigilance to perform endless calculations and mental ruminations. At a minimum it can lead me to analysis paralysis. Just buy a damn coffee maker Ray and move on! I would like to report I did just that today!
We wouldn’t be us without our weaknesses and failures and embarrassments. Our path is built of those things and so much more. Seeing our weaknesses as our strengths, albeit mysteriously hidden at times, brings fortitude. Recognizing our strengths as having the potential to be Trojan Horses allows for humility and balance. All of this is in constant flux for we are change if nothing else.
Somedays I have hypervigilance and some days not. I am always me. I can always love more. I can always strive more and share more. The trick is in being present. The happiest way forward often reveals itself when we turn off our monkey brains for a few minutes and just listen.
