Way to Go - Ice Cream for the Soul by Joy Koenig, MD - Personal Growth, Wellness, Healthy Lifestyle, Meditation, Inspiration

WAY TO GO!

CATEGORY

        Writing Exercise

DESCRIPTION

        Appreciate how good you are at something.

INSTRUCTIONS

        Choose something you are knowledgeable about or something you are good at doing. Make a list of everything you know about the subject or activity. Pick a serious topic or a playful one: wine, artwork, an academic subject, sports or games, telling jokes, trivia, singing or acting, loving, daydreaming, problem-solving, care-taking, parenting, public speaking or writing, building or fixing, playing, nurturing, hobbies and crafts, cooking or eating. Now choose something that you wish you knew more about or could do better. Make a list of everything you already know about it, followed by a list of questions you'd still like to have answered. If you choose an activity, make a list of transferable skills -- skills you use in other activities that might be transferable to the activity you'd like to improve upon. You may realize you are better or know more than you thought.

JOY'S JOURNEY

        This activity frustrated me at first. One, it required me to use a weak function of my personality type - objective Thinking. Two, I'm reasonably good at a lot of things, and have a little bit of knowledge about various things, meaning I don't feel like an expert on anything.

       As I struggled with this activity, I realized that what I'm good with is diversity. I know that some of you will argue that doing an ironman distance triathlon and board certification in preventive medicine qualify me as having expert knowledge or ability. It's just that I never put my whole self into those things, never did my best with them. I also look at all the people who did the same things, but did them with a higher level of success -- my ironman triathlon time was something like fifteen and half hours (the last official woman finisher!) and although I received two awards when I finished medical school, my licensing and specialty board scores were simply average, not outstanding.

       Then, I saw my half-full thinking -- I still have the learned habit of discounting what I've done and who I am. I smiled to myself as I realized there really is one thing I'm learning to do well -- being me.

QUOTES

Nobody can be exactly me.
Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.

Tallulah Bankhead
If we did all the things we were capable of doing,
we would literally astound ourselves.

Thomas Alva Edison
The difference between what we do and
what we are capable of doing
would suffice to solve most of the world's problem.

Mahatma Gandhi
To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love,
are the two greatest proofs,
not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind.

Paul Aubuchon

Dr. Joy is available to present playful workshops (playshops) at your corporate training retreat, non profit organization gathering, or club membership meetings. She is located in Denver, Colorado, and travels throughout the US to deliver Serious Fun ™ Programs for personal growth, wellness, and inspiration. Please see the program pages for details and contact information.

This playful meditation activity is COPYRIGHTED. If you are a professional trainer, coach, human resources person, counselor, or therapist it is not ethical nor legal for you to use it or share it with your clients or those you supervise/train as part of your job. See the copyright notice on the front page of this e-book. Remember, character is what you do when no one is looking. Please take the high road, and pay me appropriately to use these materials professionally, even if you work for a church, school, non-profit or the government.