Work From Your Strengths

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I’ve decided to run occasional posts from bloggers who I admire and who I think can add value to you, my lovely reader. It’s also a great way for me to put my feet up and take it easy whilst apperaing to have done loads of work. So it’s a win/win/win. First up is Jonathan Mead with his excellent post about using your strengths.

In these days our societies love to applaud the person who overcame great odds. We marvel at men that were born with great disadvantages but overcome them despite their considerable weakness.

I think we can achieve much greater success and fulfillment when we do what we love, while working from our strengths.

A Story About a Dancer

I’d like to tell you a story about a lady by the name of Gillian Lynne.

As a young girl growing up in the 1930′s, Gillian was absolutely hopeless in her studies. She just couldn’t sit still. Her parents were distraught, they tried everything they could to find out what was wrong with her. Eventually, they took her to see a specialist. They interviewed her in the room with her parents and then the doctor announced he’d like to speak with the parents alone. As they left the room the doctor turned on the radio and said “Gillian, I want you to wait her for a moment, I need you to sit still. We’ll be right back.”

So the parents went out in the hall and begin talking when the doctor interrupted “look at your daughter.” She was on her feet, moving and dancing to the music. After a moment the doctor said “Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn’t sick, she’s a dancer. Take her to dance school.”

Her mother did exactly that, she took her daughter to the Royal Ballet School. Gillian was delighted, she was finally around people that had to move to think.

Gillian went on to do modern, tap, jazz, ballet and contemporary dance. She became a soloist in the Royal Ballet and is responsible for some of the greatest choreography of the century. She founded the Gillian Lynne Dance company, met Andrew Lloyd Weber and went on to choreograph some of the most famous productions, including Cats and Phantom of the Opera.

Everyone have different strengths, some people have to move to think.

My Story

Everyone has their own unique talents. One of my greatest strengths is finding the underlying meaning behind things and their interconnection to seemingly unrelated things. For example, I was able to see the underlying meaning behind Shiva and Vishnu very easily. They are Hindu God/Goddesses representing the sexual energy of the universe. Their constant lovemaking represents the coalescing of two halves, or opposites in the creation of existence. It’s opposites that create the difference we see in life, these opposites are not two, but one. Explicitly they are two, but implicitly they are one.

I’ve always had a curious and philosophical mind. But this curiosity used to drive me crazy. I would often spend countless nights lying in bed wondering what the meaning of life was. What the meaning behind relationships, parenthood, careers, birth, death, love, hate, beauty, and the list goes on and on.

Constantly questioning the meaning and reason of life used to make me think I was going to lose my mind. I wanted to “be normal” and just “live life” like everyone else. Quietly accepting things as they are, not causing any trouble. I simply wanted peace, I wanted to be able to accept life as it is. One day after going to my class on biological anthropology I was so distressed about the answers to the meaning of life, I got a fever and stayed in bed for several days. I realized I couldn’t silence my insatiable curiosity and I eventually surrendered and embraced it.

I searched everywhere for the answers that I wanted to find. I took classes on anthropology, listened to Alan Watts, red countless books on Zen, Taoism, Buddhism and Vedanta. I studied psychology, psychedelics, and philosophy. After much searching I turned inward and began to find the answers that I was looking for.

This journey has been a struggle for me, no doubt. In the beginning I fought my curiosity and philosophical hunger. But after I began to embrace it, I realized the great strength it has provided me. It’s allowed me to see patterns where others see chaos. I can see the deeper meaning and energy behind events where most only glimpse the surface.

Since embracing this strength I’ve learned that I can be more effective building on my born talents rather than fighting them. I can help show others the meaning of the symbolism in their lives. I can help other people find their path and bringer a deeper level of spiritual, mental and emotional meaning to their lives.

Find your strengths and apply them in your life. Focus on what is right with you, instead of trying to overcome your shortcomings. You’ll have much greater success when you invest your energy in developing your strengths, rather than overcoming weaknesses.

You’ll have much greater effectiveness then you ever will trying to work on your weaknesses, chasing money or security.

Maybe you’re afraid to go after what you love, where your true talents lie, because it’s not socially acceptable. Forget society, forget what your parents think, forget even what you think. Do what you love, work from your strengths and the money will follow.

Don’t compromise yourself and don’t die with your music still in you.

Jonathan is the author of the blog JonathanMead.com, focused on finding Authenticity, Clarity and Balance in all aspects of living. His articles include 6 Keys to Develop the Action Habit, Positivity Demystified, and 33 of Life’s Most Powerful Lessons.