Many many years ago, I had a friend who was INCREDIBLE (well, she still is). She homeschools. She makes bread from scratch. She farms. She takes her kids to this thing and that thing. She is constantly doing service projects for needy. She does Meals on Wheels. She leads classes for other homeschooling parents. She participates in play groups and museum outing and space camp and most of the time, she does this without the help of her husband because his job has him living far away.
SHE IS SUPER.
It was quite easy for me to feel less then dirt, when I compared my "I didn't burn supper" daily accomplishment list to her "I solved the world's problems" list. Who was I? Sure, I had three cute kids. And a loving husband. I had my special talents...duh...everyone does. BUT...I wasn't canning peaches while teaching my kids Latin. All before 7am
That's why this blog started. I realized I was heading down a bad path. A path that surely would end with Angie thinking she is dumb and lame and well...dumb.
Who is Super Angie? It's me. Plain and Simple.
I have things that are SPECIAL to me. Things that other people don't do.
In fact, did you know I'm the very best German speaker, canvas painter, actress, singer, Figure skater, rock climber, traveler, mom to Tanith, Brennan and Dallin, wife to Rick, Stand up Paddleboarder named Angie in the ENTIRE WORLD! Truth!
It's true. I am. I checked. And it's true. I do that above list, collectively, better then anyone else on this planet. Do you realize how freaking awesome that is?
Okay...so maybe I don't can peaches, and my kids get yelled at when I feel hormonal and haven't had enough chocolate...but I do do some things that are pretty dang super.
Example: Skating. So two summers ago, I injured my back doing flying camels. I love flying camels and I was so excited that I was learning to do them.
So when I was finally allowed those 30 minutes a week, I was depressed. How do you go to a rink and skate around and do NOTHING. No spins. No jumps. No fun!
I remember going to the rink, and skating around all depressed and this more advanced skater came up to me and told me "Don't be down. You are still an amazing skater. You have this special ability to make people feel things...even if you didn't jump at all, people would still be moved by your skating".
OH. MY. GOSH! What? Really? Me?
I let that sink in. The next time I was allowed to skate for those 30 minutes, I skated my heart out. I used my face. I used my arms. I made every single basic stroke beautiful. THAT was my super power.
And six months later, after training and making my body stronger, I went to Adult Nationals and WON.
Now, what would have happened if I had compared my lack of flying camels spins to someone else's marvelous flying camel spin? What if I compared my messy home to someone's beautifully perfect one? What if I compared my burned chili to someone's steak?
So...give this some thought...what are YOUR super powers?
When I skate now, I don't throw in all the jumps. I can't. My body can't handle double salchows (sal- cow) or flying camel spins. But what I do, I do best. I groom my programs to focus on the things that are uniquely me. I focus on MY SUPER POWERS.
SHINE ON DEAR FRIEND!
2 comments:
haven't checked blogs in awhile, and I would have been sad to have missed this! just lovely. I know how that comparison thing goes. it's easy to feel like failure when you look at what other people are doing, especially in the areas you feel least adequate in... for me, it's always cleaning and organizing and entertaining. all these things I feel like I should be doing, and other people do it better... BUT, you make a great point to focus on the things that you are good at, because everyone struggles with something. I'm sure even Martha stewart has disaster areas in her life (maybe financial management?). love you!
Rach! I TOTALLY AGREE. And yes...even those we think are perfect (Martha is a great example) have faults or downfalls.
YOU ARE GREAT!
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