What is your ability?
Fortnightly on a Sunday, I host a 15-30 minute IG Live on @pursuinspire called Encourage & Inspire. The aim is to come together and inspire each other with the hope, courage and confidence for the week to come. It might be some of you reading have just come from Episode 6. Hello if you have (and hello if you have not). This post in an expansion about what I shared today.
As I was preparing I came across one of my “You Got This” encouragement cards that says:
“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.”
I was so stirred… and also felt a little bit rebuked. All sorts of questions started racing through my head, some too fast to capture.
How am I using my ability? Am I wasting it?
Do I even know what my ability is? If I do, why am I not using it?
What does “ability” actually mean?
Prompted by the last question, I searched the definition:
Ability: the mental or physical power or skill needed to do something
Source: Cambridge Dictionary
Ok… so inserting the above into the quote…
We all have the mental/physical power or skill to do something. The difference is how we use it.
More questions arose:
What do I have the power to do?
What are my skills? Do I recognise them? CAN I recognise them?
The latter question I believe came from an experience late last week. Someone asked me to list 10 good qualities of mine and, to be honest, it took a while to get there. I ended up thinking about what my husband, family and friends have said about me before I could get to 10. I was finding it difficult to recognize the gold in me.
When you look more into what power and skill mean (click on the words in the “Ability” definition to see more), you’ll notice that skill is the (special) ability to do an activity or job well and power has to do with strength, control, authority and a natural skill/ability to do something. Therefore if we expand the initial quote even further:
We all have the strength, authority, control or natural/special ability to do something well. The difference is how we use it.
We could have all the wealth of knowledge in the world. We could have phenomenal ideas for inventions that could change the world. We could be the most talented creative on the global, but if we are not using what we have 1) no-one will ever know and 2) the skills eventually render useless. What are your abilities and how are you using them? There are some things you have the strength, discipline and perseverance to do that others don’t. What are those things?
Setting (a goal) is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.
Proverbs 29:18 in The Message Translation says
“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.”
I use this version of the Proverb because the same can be said for not recognising or acknowledging the gems inside of us. We stumble over ourselves. We get downcast and question ourselves. Am I even good enough? Am I useful? What am I doing?
This week, can I encourage you to take some time and write down some of your abilities? Go for 5. Feel free to come back later in the week and share in the comments or on Instagram, or email me. I would say some of my skills are:
Connecting people
Creativity
Singing
Organising events
…
I’m not going to lie. 5 is even hard for me haha! But at least I tried! After you have noted your 5 (I will ALLOW 4 because I did 4), write next to them HOW you are using them. It doesn’t have to be in some grand way. For instance, creativity may be the way you present your food or the dishes you make. Just give one way initially, and build. You’ll be surprised to see what you start to notice. Once those things become more evident, you’ll become more confident in yourself.
If you are finding this exercise really hard, turn to your loved ones and ask them for three each. Are there ones that keep popping up? Allow yourself to receive the positive feedback, especially if you’re someone like me that feels awkward when you receive certain compliments!
As I close, I want to bring another quote to you:
“Nothing changes if nothing changes”
If you are uncertain about your authority, skills and abilities, you must do something to move out of that space. I believe this principle so much in my heart, and sometimes it doesn’t manifest in the physical as quickly as I’d like for me. Nevertheless I hope the exercise above helps and if there is something you need to improve on, write down AND implement next steps. Practice makes perfect, no matter how long it takes (bar procrastination).
