Know Weaknesses But Live Strenghts

REFLECTIONS

October 18, 2009

Years ago in a psychology class, as an assignment, each student had to take a personal inventory exam. There was a variety of such exams by various authors, but the general purpose was to sort out personality tendencies and learning styles, and then seek for ways to improve one’s effectiveness professionally. The pattern to the exam was to ask questions about perceived strengths, then weaknesses, finally moving to hopes, dreams, or aspirations. Most people struggle with the notion of exploring weakness. After all, who among us is unaware of our most minuscule personal weakness?

Everyone has some strengths to draw from. The difficulty is how to keep latent fears from surfacing thereby causing strengths to be undermined by perceived weakness. Too great a focus on weakness would seem to perpetuate weakness rather than nurture strength. At worst it can undermine the fibre of who and what we are about. It is essential to keep perspective in life especially with regard to self and abilities. A few months ago I read a story about personal success in which the game of Baseball was used as an illustration. The phrase as I recall it was, “What do you call a hitter who gets a hit in one of three attempts? A multimillionaire.” This is true because a ballplayer who gets a hit just one third of the time is batting over three-hundred which translates into a very lucrative contract.

What might this have to do with you and me and the price of peanuts? Just about everything. More recently I was watching a baseball game and the commentators mentioned the player next to bat had no success against the pitcher. They spoke a great deal about the fact that he had not gotten a hit in fifteen previous at bats. They continued this when he entered the batter’s box, but before they could go on he hit the second pitch for a single allowing the winning run to score. When asked after the game if he was aware of this statistic, he answered, “Of course, but I am paid to hit the ball not lament my previous efforts, so that is what I did.” While we are not paid to believe, part of our strength is the wealth we find in a spiritual existence and the knowledge that if we allow, God brings out the best in us. Life is not about winning in the sporting sense, and we may never be able to hit a curve ball. However, a desire to strive to be engaged in life in the name of love each day does sound like a winning proposition.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601