Strength Quest

Here I read to my family what my strengths were and I read a little passage of what they meant. This was their response: Mom: I'm surprised Belief wasn't your first one. For the deliberative it sounded mostly like you. You do weigh the risks but not ALWAYS though. So that part didn't sound  like  you. Harmony, hmm yea you don't like  confrontation and don't mind going with the flow as long as it doesn't conflict with your values. The consistency one doesn't sound too much like you. Maximizer sort of sounds like you too. Like when you find something you want to make it better. Good strengths. Sounds about right.  Dad: yea the first sounds like you but if it isn't I would love you to be like that.For harmony you are working towards that. As life starts to frustrated you, you freeze up. But you do start out like that. Like how you are with the youth group. But yes, overall I feel like those are you.  Sarah:  I don't think...

Have you even hear that phrase that is so common among the kids "That's not fair!"  And when I hear that my mind  immediately  jumps to this...  When I was a kid I was like any other kid and I've said those words before too. I said it mostly when I was at home and to my parents whom I felt were doing me injustice compared to my other sisters. Anyways one time as I was throwing one of "that's not fair rant" I guess my mom wasn't having it that day and turned to me to give me one of those talks that make you feel guilty. Long story short she basically told me "don't confuse being equal to being fair because they are not the same thing". She explained to me that being equal doesn't give everyone the same fighting chance. Some people might need more help in life than others. Some people can do it on their own and that's okay For some reason I look that to heart and I'm glad I did. I want to become a special ed. teacher. I...

As you might remember from last time one of my top five themes was that I am a maximizer. The definition that they used was “[they] focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb” (CliftonStrengths). Personally when I look at the students and I don’t see who they are now rather the potential that they have within them. Some people say I have this tendency to be naive and think that the world is all good and I try too hard to propel students (or anyone that is close to me) in the direction that brings success and prosperity. Don't get me wrong I have my moments where I am thinking "Is this even worth it? Am I even getting through?". The one thing that has been my anchor and draws me back in to push through is love. I never thought of myself as a lovey dovey person at all. I'm a tough love kind of gal. You know the kind to punch on the shoulder and gives a head nod to show "jo...

So earlier I told you my results of the Strength Finder Assessment. My number one strength was   Deliberative  One thing that really stood out to me that made me feel like "wow that is me" was that it said "you are a private person... Everything may seem in order, but beneath the surface you sense the many risk" (CliftonStrength, p107). I don't like opening up to people and when I do I am particular about it. You would have to be a person I really trust to open up. When it comes to the risk aspect, I feel like I inherit that part from my mom. My mom thinks about all the risks, like allll the risks. I once went on a mission trip to Africa my mom could only tell me about all the extreme risks that can happen on the trip. Wasn't too helpful at the time but it made me more aware of my surrounding while I was out there. The second strength is Harmony . This one really surprised me. My initial response was "like a mediator? That's not too ...

Everyone has a talent. We were all given at least one, there's no doubt about that. The tricky thing is figuring out what our talents are and then building them into strengths. I took this cool test called "the Clifton Strength Assessment". What it does is asks a series of questions and you chose if you "strongly agree" or "strongly disagree". After about, hmmm, 40 questions it generates what your top 5 strengths (or talents) are. My results were: 1. Deliberative 2. Harmony  3. Belief  4. Consistency  and lastly 5. Maximizer. To be honest I was surprise by the results. Well I was half surprise and the other half I didn't know what to expect. I read the different category and for some reason most of them didn't sound like me. They sound sort of like me but not really like me if that makes any sense. So when I took the assessment I was pretty eager to see what my so called "strengths" are. But I can't tell you everything ...