Wednesday, May 30, 2012

10 Things...:The elaboration.

1. Don't second guess your gifts, skills and talents.

I'm not one to boast about my gifts and talents because I have never really regarded myself as someone who has any. This is not false humility or self deprecation. I truly can't think of any tangible gifts or talents I have to offer anyone or this world. Now before anyone "poo poos" me and goes on and one about how "everyone has gifts and talents," I think it's necessary to define terms.



"A gift is a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent" according to dictionary.com. Now let's define "special." According to the same reference, "special" is "distinguished or different from what is ordinary or usual." I know we live in a society where everyone is regarded as "special," but the honest truth is that most of us are pretty ordinary. Sure there are some of us "ordinaries" with unique characteristics, but I don't believe that many should be regarded as "special" according to the denotative meaning.


All that in mind, I don't have any gifts (ha!) There is nothing I do that can't be done by someone else or hasn't already been done by someone else. Any "success" I have can be attributed to skills I've learned along the way. That said, I'd tell 19 year old Gloria to learn as many skills as possible. I'd tell her to hone those skills, seek out mentors and positive influences to nourish those skills. I'd tell her not to second guess the importance of those skills and not to be afraid to use those skills when opportunities to exercise those skills presented themselves.

I can remember two times in particular where second guessing myself led me to miss opportunities in my late teens and early twenties. If I could go back, I'd pass myself a note that read, "Go for it."

To be continued....



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

10 Things I wish I'd know 10 years ago...

I'm fighting going to bed for some reason. Boredom led me to troll the internet for old hair "idols." Shawnta immediately came to mind. I went to Youtube to see what's she's been up to in the last year or so. I chose this video. She only got around to actually mentioning 6 things but I still appreciated her candor. While listening, I felt compelled to blog on this topic, more for myself than anyone else.

I'll be 30 years old in less than one month. Thirty. 3-0. Ten years from 40. I know people who throw huge, celebratory parties, making much adieu about leaving their twenties behind. I'm not one of those people.Truthfully, I don't know where my twenties went and I actually spend quite of bit of time thinking about what I'd do differently if given a chance. Actually, I've always thought about what I'd do differently, even from my early twenties, only I thought about how I'd change my teenage years.

Is it really possible to have a quarter life crisis for 6-7 years? LOL... Seriously, though, I know I'm not supposed to say I dread turning thirty or that I mourn lost time and perceived missed opportunities. I know the right answers about God's sovereignty, my salvation and how all things were orchestrated leading me to this very moment. All the same, here are some things that 29 year old Glo would tell 19 year old Glo.

1. Don't second guess your gifts, skills and/or talents.
2. Nurture relationships.
3. Be you, beautiful.
4. Live at a 10.
5. It feels really important now, but it's not.
6. Move to DC after graduation, at least for a little while.
7. Throw away all your CDs.
8. Sometimes you have to start from scratch.
9. EXERCISE.
10. Go veg or vegan.

Ideally, I'll do a post on several of these topics in coming weeks.

So funny, as I typed that I have things 19 year old Glo would tell 29 year old Glo...may visit that topic one day.

Goodnight moon.