I stink at math. I google math answers for my 11-year-old son, y’all. I may have taken pre-Algebra a couple or so times before I scored high enough to pass the class. Math makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry for days. This is NOT an exaggeration, just ask my oldest son who had to assume the role of math teacher and tutor if I was the only one home.

Math does not make sense to me. In fact, it makes about as much sense to me as pre-teen decision-making. There is a reason I was not a self-contained teacher in grades higher than third. I can do all the basics and nothing more. Well, without instructional videos on google, and even then, there’s no guarantee.

For years I felt deep shame because I believed I was straight dumb. Everyone around me either truly understood math concepts, or were far better at pretending than I was. My default was to focus on what I wasn’t, instead of what I was. Tracking with me?

Here’s the great thing, I am good at other things. If I knew back in high school what I know now, I would have given myself a little pep talk. I would have sat me down and said, “You are good at other things, Alyssa. You don’t have to be amazing at everything. Find your area of strength and then work from that place. Doing poorly in one academic area doesn’t disqualify you from everything else.”

Isn’t that a good word? That’s the same pep talk I need today. We were uniquely made with specific gifts and talents. Some are brilliant at math, others at leadership, writing, painting, landscaping, storytelling, chemistry, etc. We are the best version of ourselves when we understand how we were uniquely equipped and then use that gift for the common good. So, I’ll go on googling math answers, but I won’t wear my need to do that like a cloak of shame. I’ll lean into my ability to be a communicator. It’s what I do well.

What about you, friend…what do you do well? Will you focus on what you have and not where you are deficient? Can I urge you to celebrate your ability today?

#MomentOfTruthMonday #MathProblems #CelebrateYourStrengths