🔋 Finding Weird, Part 2 - Strength
Let's keep getting weird, eh?
We all bring something different to the table. My contention is that the sooner we identify and lean into those differentiators, the sooner we can move towards fulfillment. Our weirdness is, to use a phrase I’m fond of, the good stuff.
Last week, I wrote about fear. We're all on some type of quest to find fulfillment, and it helps to start with some candid reflection on the things that trigger concern. Fear is visceral and real. It's also universal — we all feel it, whether we acknowledge it or not.
I encouraged you to do some potentially uncomfortable reflection: What are you afraid of? What are you concerned about? What is it that you fear?
But we don't stop there, lest it consume us.
Embracing Strength
Just as everyone fears, everyone has strengths. Everyone has things that help them feel more confident. Everyone has something within them that fosters courage and positivity. Sometimes it's hidden, and sometimes it's obvious. But it's always there.
I wrote last week about the conference where I led student veteran leaders through an exercise that started with an exploration of fear. The next question I asked them to consider was simply: what gives you strength?
The answers, once again, were a mix of individualized answers that spoke to some communal themes: family, faith, friends, colleagues, inner characteristics, training, mentors, etc.
Although we may sometimes feel that all we are is fear and doubt, there's something profound about balancing those fears against the things that are positive and encouraging. Even in the darkest of times, there are wells from which we can all draw strength.
Your Task: Find Strength
And now, dear reader, to you:
- From where do you draw strength?
- What gives you confidence and hope?
- Who or what can you rely on in times of need?
If you find this easy and encouraging, great! It may be that as soon as you start listing these items out, you discover that this particular well is deeper than you originally thought. Lean into that. These can be the super fun and powerful parts of your "weird."
And it's also possible that this part is daunting. Maybe you can't gather as many resources as you'd like, or at least enough to meaningfully balance out the fear side of the ledger.
If that's the case, I encourage you to connect with people you trust. Ask them what strengths they see in you, if you're able to open up that type of vulnerable space. Ask them for guidance on what sources of strength you may be able to rely on.
If you get stuck, consider a few more questions:
- What are you uniquely good at?
- What do you enjoy doing?
- What gives you inspiration?
- What makes you feel whole and connected?
No one is in this life alone. Yes, each of our journeys is individualized. And yes, there are times we may feel isolated and distant. I viscerally remember my seven months in an Iraqi bunker as some of the loneliest and strangest of my life. Yet I found important parts of myself there, and the members of my community who continued to support me from afar meant everything to me. Strength and encouragement can come from unforeseeable or unexpected places.
More on that next week, when we look to bridging fear and strength, creating more holistic, three-dimensional versions of ourselves.
A request as we part, for now. Just don't stop being you, okay? Because exactly no one else can do that quite like you can, and I love that about you.
Rye, out 🫡
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