(7 minute read) Before I begin, I want to wish my oldest granddaughter a most wonderful and happy birthday as she turns 11 today 🙂 Wishing you a joyful life filled with peace, tranquility and harmony my dearest. And as she says in a game we play when we’re driving; “Now Back to Business.” 🙂

Sharon and Jayden were having one of their dialogues. As they’ve grown to expect in these deliberations, they started on a topic only to find themselves grow, progress and evolve into another topic.  Otherwise, what’s the purpose, right?

Jayden remarked, “Listing my strongest suits about myself would be a prideful act, and a cocky and arrogant attitude?”

Sharon, like a thunder bolt, leaned closer to Jayden, “Not if the purpose is to show your vulnerabilities or susceptibilities!”

Jayden was perplexed, and he shook his head and exclaimed, “This does not make sense Sharon. How can my strongest characteristics express my vulnerabilities? It is those exact characteristics that make me like ‘look at him, what a guy’.”

Sharon excited to share her thoughts started saying, “Look at me, you know I have a strong observation ability, and I constantly share my observations with those I observe stuff about, and it happens automatically without any effort or intention. Many around me agree that this is a great characteristic. So that’s two; observant & highly communicative”. Jayden almost cut Sharon off saying, “Yes indeed you do”, as he nodded his head smiling ear to ear. Sharon proceeded to explain that this feature makes most people around her feel extremely good about themselves. So when she sees a coworker one day with straight hair and the next day with curly hair, or someone that has a new pair of glasses, the comment of “you looked great yesterday in straight hair and you look just as beautiful with curly hair today”, or “Love your new glasses”, immediately brings a smile on that person’s face and makes them feel so good about themselves. Therefore, unintentionally, this feature makes people drawn to me. It makes people ‘like’ me. This in turn of course makes me feel good about myself. Therefore, this feature is greatly beneficial to others as well as to me.

“I do not see a bad component of this characteristic!” Jayden exclaimed with a loud voice, “You’d better elaborate before I discount the point you are trying to make.”

Sharon, feeling good, rested backwards in her seat and said, “Actually I will list for you the components that makes me vulnerable and susceptible with this characteristic”;

• I am vulnerable to feel ‘I am all that’ and think too highly of myself and in how people regard me
• I am susceptible to become arrogant and cocky as well as susceptible to try and commandeer this ability to gain further recognition
• I am exposed to coming across as flirty and even maybe ‘coming on’ at someone that does not know me quite well yet
• Because it is an automatic response within me, it is a weakness as it may point out to someone that they are an open book, and make them feel bad about themselves, meanwhile they are not at all an open book to most that they encounter
• At its worst level, it will make someone think or say; “Who the hell do you think you are?”
• And this here right now, communicating this, is opening myself up and being vulnerable

Jayden stunned, dumbfounded and almost speechless commented, “Wow. I never knew.”

There was a moment of silence there, and Jayden recognized how deep Sharon dug in, as there was a tear that welled in her eyes, but never trickled down. So he proceeded, “I hear you, I feel you my dear.”

“I am not done yet”, was Sharon’s response as she leaned back out of her seat with a smile, and back into this dialogue.

So my point is, for every strong characteristic a person possesses, it is at the same time one of their weak characteristics, for every single one of them.

We, as people, generally know our ‘good’ characteristics. Even if we may not want to admit them in public, we do know them. You know why? It is because others that we interact with, at some point or another will point them out to us, or at least mention them to us. So if you, yes you the reader, still claim you do not know what they are? Just start paying attention to what others say your strong characteristics are.

The utmost act of humility is to know ones weaknesses. Who asks themselves, “What are my weaknesses?” And who freely tells another, “Your weaknesses are…?”  Neither happens and if it is does, it is very infrequent or better yet, simply rare.

So in knowing, listing and examining our strongest characteristics, and viewing them as our weakest links, that will lead us to automatically self-examine, automatically increase our humility and most importantly more and more each day exhibit, demonstrate, establish and flaunt humility in our actions. Not sure if flaunting and humility belong together in one sentence, but you know what I mean.

Go, therefore and act accordingly. Hmmmm, I’ve heard these words before 😉  and I am simply repeating them.