This week’s message is coming a day late because I spent yesterday in my Strategic Coach meetings in Santa Monica California. While I was there I realized that sometimes I am hesitant to admit or reveal my weaknesses to others. This is a common factor for most people, probably because we see it as a sign of weakness or something. The realization I had is that if I refuse to share my weakness, I prevent others from sharing their strength. This is the whole reason why we all have different strengths and weaknesses. Because of this we can exchange with each other and improve each other’s lives. Serve others through your strengths, and give them opportunities to serve through your weaknesses.
I will admit that I struggle as much as anyone else at admiting my weaknesses. I much prefer to assist others and try to enrich there lives with the hope that somehow others will just simply help me but I take on the role of (not someone who is exchanging) one that just recieves from others. I will see if I can improve on this and we will see what blessing can be exchanged.
Since you first brought this up, now that my mind is attuned to the idea, I keep running into the “weakness is a blessing” theme. Just today I read the following, written in 1690:
“but forasmuch as we are not by ourselves sufficient to furnish ourselves with competent store of things, needful for such a life as our nature doth desire … therefore to supply those defects and imperfections which are in us … we are naturally induced to seek communion and fellowship with others.”
– John Locke, Second Treatise on Government, §15
One may thus deduce that those who believe themselves the most perfect are the most impoverished, having few reasons to exchange with others and thus create more wealth for themselves (and those with whom they exchange).
See you next Wednesday.
(James)