What if a karate student is naturally good at punching and has really good balance and posture, but has a difficult time moving quickly when sparring. Some people may tell you to focus on your weak areas and work on them until they are as good as your strong areas.
It is true that you have to improve your areas that are lacking in order to be well rounded. However, there is also something to be said for focusing on your natural abilities. Everyone comes into this world with their own unique blend of talents. Developing these talents and sharing them with those around us is where we will find our greatest joy.
If I have a sloppy side kick, perhaps I will work really hard on it for ten minutes and come back to it a couple of times during my hour long workout. If I were to spend the entire hour just working on my side kick, pretty soon, practice would become a drudgery and I would find myself making excuses not to practice at all.
Spending most of your time developing things that come naturally will boost your self-esteem and give you strength and increased hope during the time you spend improving your weak areas.
Take some time this week to identify your strengths. What are you naturally good at? Promise yourself that you will spend time doing these things. Have a happy life!
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Regional Test
14 years ago
1 comment:
There is a term used among those in education: Twice exceptional or 2e. These are people who are both gifted and talented, or have much higher than average capabilities in one or more areas than their peers, and also suffer from a diagnosed learning disability or AD/HD. In these individuals, often their high abilities are difficult to recognize, or are even masked by their equally severe weaknesses. Often, teachers have focused so much on trying to help these children strengthen their weak areas instead of developing their amazing strengths and talents, which has lead to more problems including those you mentioned, as well as frustration, depression, lower self confidence and self esteem, and the loss of those strengths.
I have been on both sides of this struggle; as a 2e child (identified as a child as gifted and talented with AD/HD) and as a teacher, and I have come to learn one thing from it; that as you have/give the opportunities to develop and use those strengths and talents in a valuable way, most often, the weaker areas will develop, too, because of a stronger sense of self confidence and esteem.
Thank you for bringing it into another context.
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