Finding Yourself

I'm honestly not very good at this blog thing, but I promise to work harder. As I was searching for a new talent I ended up finding out more about myself. The thing about searching for something new is that you never know what you might find. All my life I have looked and looked for things that I was good at, things that would help me fit into who I thought I might be. I was a dancer growing up and I thought, "This is it, I will be a professional dancer." I am a pretty good dancer but one day I looked around and there wasn't a single person on my team, from the dancers to the coaches, that I wanted to be like. I tried sports and I found myself being pretty good there too, but it still didn't quite suit me. In high school I joined the choir and found out I wasn't too bad as a singer but I found out quickly that I didn't have the courage to sing out. Although on the dance floor I could be in the spotlight, when it came to using my voice in public I couldn't fight the fear. I have tried working in everything from retail to customer service to call centers to the service industry and now I am a nanny. I guess you could say I am still to this day searching for my true calling.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to help out at a "Mini MTC". Basically what we did was for a weekend the youth in the church from the area I live in, ages 16-18, spent a weekend (27 hours), learning about what it would be like to serve a mission for the church. So we had speakers there, group meetings to help each other, study times, role playing and actually going out into the community to share a message door-to-door. It was absolutely amazing. One of the greatest experiences and I will never forget it. In my group I had six amazingly, slightly nervous, wonderful young women. They were so full of life and excitement. I absolutely loved it because these young people were there to learn and grow. They all had the desire and I learned so much just from their presence. It was really an eye-opening, spiritually uplifting weekend! I had the opportunity to realize that I shouldn't be afraid to speak up, to be the best me that I can be. These girls looked up to me and I guided each of them, comforted them when they got discouraged, and pushed them when they wanted to give up. I guess you could say I found out that what I thought was a weakness turned out to be a strength over the weekend. These girls that are more then 12 years younger then me, encouraged me to be better.

I am so indeed grateful for the experiences that are placed before us. I know that each one helps to mold us into who we will become. I am still searching for whatever it is that I can truly call "my own" and enjoying every minute of the journey. I know that we should never give up hope and never stop trying. Tomorrow is a new day full of new experiences. They say, "The past is history, the future is in God's hands but the present is a gift." It's what we do with that gift that matters. We can't change history and I can't see past right now because I don't know what tomorrow will be like. But I can plan for today and I plan to make the best of it!

Searching for a talent

So I have to admit one of the things I don't really enjoy about my job is the weird cartoons that kids just love to watch! But today I am sitting here with this pretty little angel and she is watching "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" They are going to have a talent show and Wubbzy is trying to find a talent. Wubbzy starts to get sad trying to find something to do because Wubbzy just doesn't seem to have much of a talent. So the moral of the show is that you have to just be yourself. Most people are looking for someone original and not just someone who fits a mold. Obviously the judges absolutely love Wubbzy's talent, I mean he is the main character, but seriously it is important to be the best you can be and not what everyone else wants you to be.

We all have something to share and bring to this world. I am really happy that even cartoons have this figured out. As we are willing to share our talents with others we can all learn great things. I know I am always impressed when I see someone step out of a box and show off a talent that is possibly a bit unusual.

All my life I have been taught and pushed to try new things. I am so grateful for this. I learned how to dance, sing, paint (not very good at this), plant a garden (not for me), how to sew on a button (useful, but also not my favorite), writing, basketball, volleyball, soccer, track, ok so pretty much any sport. I might not be good at all of the things I have tried but I have learned something from each experience.

Today I plan to look for something new to learn and create a new talent to put in my box of tricks!!! Wish me luck!