A-ha Moment of the Week

In my professional development class, we learn about Strengths - Gallup Strengths to be specific. Students complete the student version of StrengthsFinder, a guest speaker comes* and helps us process the meaning of our strengths and what that looks like in action...how strengths can be utilized in the workplace/learning environment...and how strengths impact the type of work we choose do, and who we want to work for.

[*a guest speaker because I'm not currently a Strengths coach. Emphasis on currently...come December, I'm planning to spend 4 days in Boston completing the training! ...and if you know me at all, you know I am SUPER excited about it!]

If you know me at all, I am right there alongside students discovering new insights about my Strengths. I LOVE this part of class. LOVE it. Hands-down my favorite part - because I love connections.

The past two weeks, I've had a great time learning from Bridgette Voisinet, Director of Organizational Development for NorthStar, as she led us through the Strengths exercises. She shared an aspect of Strengths that I hadn't been exposed to before: the domains. ...and let me tell you what, it was the biggest A-HA moment of the week!

 All 34 themes arranged by domain type.

I'm curious to know your thoughts...where do you think my Strengths lie?

I've taken this assessment 3 times, once 10 years ago and twice in the past year (though I can't find one of my results). Typically, results don't change much - except in the event of a MAJOR life change. So, my strengths from the last 5 years: Ideation, Individualization, Adaptability, Positivity, WOO; Adaptability, Connectedness, Strategic, Input, Responsibility.

...and where do those Strengths fall?

 RELATIONSHIP BUILDING & STRATEGIC THINKING.

See which one is least? Executing...which is why getting into action is my biggest challenge. Why implementing a plan happens with great effort. Why I felt last week like my life just spins its wheels without making forward progress....

I NEED OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE IDEAS A REALITY.

I need Executors to make the plan happen, and I need Influencers to advocate for/support my idea. 

...also, is it any wonder how I ended up in my line of work? ...or the type of work that I long to do? 
...no...no it is not.


Also, I have just loved this week sitting in an appointment with each of my students and helping them put into words how their strengths connect with each other - identify why that is significant to an employer - and just gain insight into them. Again, knowing my strengths - of course, I love that. There is just something so powerful in being to identify WHO YOU ARE - and hearing someone else say THAT IT MATTERS.

YOU. MATTER.
 

Embracing the W

A year ago at this time, I could not fathom referring to myself as a widow.

I hated the word.

I hated the thought that the word now defined me.

I wanted to resist this reality.



So, I did. :) Just like I continue to call Dan my husband because calling him "my late husband" seems like a lie - because I was the late one, he wasn't. :)


The week of my trip to Ireland, I had this dream. I had been singing worship songs with this (Irish) (younger) man, and we had a fantastic connection. After awhile, he said, "So, I see that you have a ring on your finger. Are you married, then?"



"Actually...I'm a widow."


The first time I used that phrase was in a dream and it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

It fits, now. It fits.

And, I used that response to quite a few inquiries while I got to know my group and others on the trip.

Just one of the small ways that God is guiding me, ever so gently, to embrace this new life. It does not happen at all at once. Everything takes time...and there are days where it feels like 2 steps forward and 3 steps back, but the key is that I am being led - and I am being led gently and lovingly. This is the path to healing - trusting our path and our healing to the One who created us.