Talent Lists

Friday through Sunday of this past weekend was devoted to meeting up with some of my girl friends. We voyaged to Denver and got in some serious QT. In typical gathering style, we purchased a few bottles of wine, Oreos, chips and ice cream for our first evening together. Our spread looked like we were suffering from one giant, collective break up.  Which, by the way, we are not.

Side note: Who do I need to contact to get Blue bell ice-cream in Omaha/Lincoln? Or am I missing it somewhere? HELP.

Anyways, while we were chowing down, one of my friends mentioned her “talent list.” Wait… what? I don’t have a talent list. Also, what is that?

Apparently a couple of the ladies had previously done this. In short, a talent list is pretty self explanatory. It’s a list of things you are talented at. And it’s supposed to be specific.

As in…

Giving= unacceptable talent list material

Thoughtful gift giver= acceptable talent list material

… or something. I think. So, we started making our own talent lists. Some talents are funny. Some are random based off of past events. Some are obvious.

Even so, it is so much more difficult than it sounds. A million things begin to run through my mind. Mainly, what am I good at, anyways? I don’t know! I can’t think of anything. I am certainly not athletic. I have taken the strengths finder…  are those talents? Nope… too vague.  Panic was setting in as I realized I actually didn’t have any talents. Well, this is upsetting. I am not good at being put on the spot, I know that much. We will call that an anti-talent.

The activity ended up turning into something that I am quite certain a group of guys would never partake in: essentially going around and identifying what we thought each individual was talented at. And let me tell you… this is an activity that you should do with your people. (It is better fueled with wine and sugar, but do as you please).

I am sure you are all dying to know what my talent list ended up looking like. Unfortunately, it’s written on a paper towel and is not in my possession. And it’s certainly not my point. My point is somewhere along the lines of “how we see ourselves is so much more negative than how the people who love and care about us, see us.” See,  I was literally incapable of thinking of more than a few things that I knew I was “talented at”. But these women, who have known me for (some) shorter periods and (others) a long time, had no trouble identifying my talents.

Que: so many warm and fuzzy feelings. And I swear it wasn't (just) the wine.

As an activity (if you aren't hurting for a little free time), jot down a few things that you believe yourself to be good at. If you are familiar with your talents, by all means, continue on! But if you, like many of us, struggle to come up with more than a few, ask a close friend or family member to identify a few of your "talents." You will most likely be surprised to see how you are perceived by the people who know you best.

Let this be a reminder to us to never forget to tell the people we love what we really think is great about them. We all have less than pretty qualities. But for most of us, the good qualities outweigh the bad. Find the good in others… and focus on those things.