First of all I’m in serious pain. My hip has been hurting since April, when I started yoga. I kept thinking it would get better, but it never did. Then in November I dislocated my shoulder and finally started physical therapy for that. But the shoulder pain couldn’t even compare to the hip pain, so I finally went to the doctor a few weeks ago and he said I have tendonitis in my hip flexor and now I’m in physical therapy for that. I cut back on the number of days I do yoga, and I don’t push myself as hard during class. I also cut back on my running/walking from 3 miles to 2. But today after my run my hip hurt unbelievably. I iced it and took Advil and there is no improvement at all. I think it hurts more today because I ran outside on the streets and sidewalks instead of of the treadmill. My goal is to run a 5K in June – I don’t even know if I’ll be able to walk! I’m seriously thinking of giving up yoga, I didn’t realize it would cause so many injuries. So anyway, that is my complaint for the day.
I made a commitment to meet with the life coach for a three month time period and she told me to purchase the book Now, Discover Your Strengths. You get a code for an online test to determine your top five strengths. And these are mine:
Restorative
You love to solve problems. You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal ones. You may seek out specific kinds of problems that you have met many times before and that you are confident you can fix. Or you may feel the greatest push when faced with complex and unfamiliar problems.
Empathy
You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Other people are drawn to you.
Intellection
You like to think. You like mental activity. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.
Developer
You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.
Belief
You have certain core values that are enduring. Your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in yourself and others. Your friends call you dependable. Your Belief makes you easy to trust.
A while ago I wrote a post about six things I’m good at, and I think the things I wrote about in that post mesh really well with these strengths. I abbreviated the descriptions of all of them, except for “Developer”. I’m not convinced that is one of my strengths. Perhaps if I was in a corporate environment I would see more signs of this quality in me, but I don’t have opportunities to help people grow on a day to day basis. I have to think more about that one. I’m meeting with the coach the first week in March and I’m looking forward to learning more about myself.
Tags: beliefs and values, feelings, life coach, running, strengths, yoga
February 14th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Interesting how so many of us with ed’s are quite empathetic.