Once the label was slapped on, it didn't take long to figure out that it was going to be a problem.
Smart.
I was labeled as smart in first grade. It came in the form of the word, "Talented," along with inclusion into a special program at school. For the grown-ups in my life, it was A Very Good Thing. A reason to be proud, an excuse to brag, something to shout from the mountain tops.
But, oh, to be a kid labeled as such was not at all a good thing. It came with a side of Don't You Dare Put Your Hand Up to Answer a Question, a dose of Don't Ever Share Your Grades, and a heavy hit of Will You Help Me Cheat on this Test? When you're a wee little kid, you're proud of your every achievement, but slowly things change and it becomes bad to be different. Being good at something, being better than average, well that's just not acceptable.
Recently @jayesel wrote about how it really kinda sucks how we start out knowing how to celebrate our talents, but that for some reason that pride is beaten out of us as we grow up. She challenged everybody who read her post to list seven things they are good at.
I can do that.
1. I am smart. I can be totally and completely ditzy at times, but when it comes to figuring out a situation and piecing together a solution, I'm your girl. I can figure out absolutely anything if I set my mind to it.
2. I am stubborn. See also: #1. If I decide I'm going to do something, I'm doing it. It may take me forever and a day to get it done, but I will.
3. I catch things other people miss. It's exactly what makes me a good classroom trainer. I pick up on nonverbal communication very well, I hear muttering from miles away, and I piece it all together to figure out what people are really thinking.
4. I am a word game queen. I may not be the best out there, but ask the peeps who have fallen to my wrath in Words with Friends about how I am with two-letter words.
5. You don't have to ask "How does your garden grow?" because the answer is very well. I can't keep houseplants alive, but if it's outside, I can make it look good. In the event it doesn't, I'll figure out why a plant isn't happy and find it a better place. I am a beast with a shovel and a pair of gardening gloves.
6. I am flexible. I don't mean that in the bendy sort of way (because, uh, NOT AT ALL), but rather in a BRING IT ON, WORLD sort of way. No matter what unexpected curveballs are thrown my way, I manage to hit the snooze button on the universe and snore my way through it. I dodge disaster like a pro.
7. I am an overachiever. Here, let me prove it! I asked Alexis to list some things that she is good at. Since she's still young enough to be WAY proud of her accomplishments and still loves to tell people her talents, she was much faster at coming up with seven things than I was. I'm challenging myself to help her stay that way, but yet find the balance between pride and conceit. Anyway, her seven were: a good hula hooper, a good jumper, a good painter, a good speller (she rattled off L-O-V-E to prove her point, which, SWOON!), a good colorer, a good reader, and good at being silly. She's totally right on all accounts.
Now, it's YOUR turn. What are your talents?