Daily writing prompt
What are you good at?
When I first glanced at today's prompt, my initial thoughts were some sort of response like being good at cooking; sports; art; knitting or those rather important, yet not-so-important skills. But, on the other hand, perhaps the prompt was searching for those hard skills like a great surgeon or doctor, those types of things where one is really good at their job.
But, as I'm sitting here at 6:20am working at finishing the first coffee of the day, now I'm trying to decide what "good" actually means. Is a person talented at doing something or just good at it? I know folks who are good at home renovations and such, but I would never hire them, because they're not talented at their craft.
What is the difference between good and great? Do you want someone who is just good or great?
Perhaps we're slightly overthinking this at the moment.
When we get tossed the phrase "Hey - what are you good at?" at some backyard BBQ the next-door neighbour is having, what tends to be our answer? I think mostly along the lines of "Well, now that you ask - I'm good at old-timers hockey or I'm good at my job." And really there is nothing wrong with any of those types of comebacks - as long as you're good at them I guess.
But, how often do we hear or even exclaim ourselves that "I'm good at parenting, or I'm good at being a spouse, or I'm really good at being a grandparent?" Not often I would suspect.
Well, I'm really good at listening to what people say.
Not just the words the person across from you is saying - anyone can do that. But, I'm talking here about the bigger picture of what are they actually communicating or trying to communicate. Through yes, their words, but through their body language(if we're physically together) and also by what they're not saying. Often what people aren't saying holds the clue to what they are actually speaking about.
Depending on the conversation and/or what it is about, I do try to put myself in their shoes, so to speak. To get a sense of why they may be coming from the position that they're coming from. If I can walk a mile or even 100 metres in their shoes; and show some empathy and understanding I've elevated my role in half of the conservation.
I've learned over many years, that the world is not black and white. Not yes or no. We mostly live our lives in this nebulous gray area, that many unfortunately find it hard to function in, especially if we're those who see the world as "black and white."
Learning to listen and listen well - serves us well in navigating through vast areas of life that are neither "black or white." Often there are no real answers or solutions, people just need a friend to really listen to them.
--as always with love--
--- get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself ---
No comments:
Post a Comment