Know thyself. As someone who's spent a decent amount of time walking around on this planet, I find myself learning more and more about myself. I believe I've got a pretty good idea about a lot of it. Over that last few years, heck, few months, who I am is coming further to bear. I've had the privilege of walking through this self-discovery with a handful of people. Those people have been able to not only help me identify myself, my fears, and my gifts, but have also celebrated its application.
Marcus Buckingham, when speaking about strengths, shared something along the lines of us not always having to play to our strengths, but rather, we need to live where we feel strong. I love this. The idea of playing to strengths, while it sounds good, there is almost a cost benefit component that is off-putting. But living where and doing what makes me feel strong is invigorating—it brings life!
I touched on this sort of thinking not too long ago with the blog post Unassigned. In it, I discussed the need to live out who we are, not what people say we should be. That said, I am wondering how much of me is too much. As I've been about this Goodwill Tour and have been...well...marketing me, I've been involved in a couple of conversations wherein we discussed a line that could be crossed between living into totally who I was created to be and losing the "created" piece of it. You see, I believe I was created by God to be Rick. This gives me position. Position under God. A position and humility that is core to who I am. A position that allows me to truly know who I am, and to live into it.
So as I am touring and marketing myself, there is a fine line that could be crossed that would remove me from that position—that core position. And oddly, I'd lose myself in the process. And I know I have a propensity to cross that line.
Ben Franklin said "Observe all men; thy self most." I pray I stay alert to that line. And if I don't, I am fortunate to have a wonderful bride who can spot too much me from quite a distance.
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? - Luke 9:25