What do you have to offer the world, or just one person?

Most of us don’t really think of ourselves as an expert in any certain field. We haven’t discovered anything or cured anything. We haven’t built a business that employs millions or solved any great problem facing humankind. We downplay our abilities since they’re not that impressive. After all, almost anyone can balance a checkbook or raise kids or even write a blog post. We keep our heads down and try not to sound like we’re bragging in our abilities.

Recently I was asked to speak at a writers’ conference. It's been a long time since I've talked about writing. To be honest, it's been a long time since I've written much since I haven’t posted on this blog in two weeks. I like to think I have something to offer writers. I’ve been doing it a while and have met with some success with my published novels. But an expert…I don't know if I want to go that far.

I almost didn't accept the invitation. I worried I might not have anything to offer they didn’t already know. Actually I was afraid. Afraid of looking dumb in front of seasoned writers. Afraid I’d fall on my face. Afraid I’d say something stupid. Afraid everyone would see me as the fraud I thought I was.

Aren't those stupid reasons for not doing something you love?

We all have something to offer someone else. No matter your interests or abilities or experience or natural talent, you have something to offer that can benefit or impact someone else. Don't let fear or the thought that you're a phony or not as good as you think you are keep you from doing what you enjoy and from being a being a blessing to others. We tell ourselves we’re not that funny or talented or experienced. Consequently, we do nothing. Who suffers when we make that choice?

Not only do we hurt ourselves by not stretching our wings and doing what we enjoy, we hurt those we don’t help. Vanity is sometimes disguised as fear. The fear we experience when doing something outside our comfort zone is vanity. We don’t want to risk looking like a dummy when we attempt something we might fail. None of us want to fall on our face in front of witnesses.

No matter how minimal you believe your talents, someone can benefit from learning them. Even if you think everyone knows how to bake a chocolate chip cookie or housebreak a puppy or sew on a button, you will come across someone who needs your advice on the subject. I am sure there are plenty of bigger things in which you have experience.

What are you good at? What are your interests or natural talents? What have you been doing well most of your life? Parenting. Baking. Organization. Writing. Graphic design. Woodworking. Money management. Animal training. Crafts. Mechanics. Health and beauty. There is at least one area in which you could help someone else. Probably many, but for the sake of this article, let’s focus on one. Name one thing you could teach someone else. If you share your knowledge & experience with one person, you have possibly enriched them…and yourself.

Stop Avoiding what You Want Most

Time is a commodity we all think we don't have enough of. However, we have the same amount as everyone else. I know authors with forty, fifty, a hundred, or even two hundred books on the market and I still have only a handful. In what areas am I failing while they are wildly successful?

Yes, I have a full-time job. Yes, I’m working to build a Scentsy business as well as carve out time to write. Yes, I have a family. But doesn't everyone? We all have obligations. We all have lives and people we want to spend time with. Somehow, though, successful writers manage to accomplish scads more in the same 24 hours a day than I accomplish. What am I doing wrong that I can't find time to work on my books? I can't find time to edit and polish and format and market and network and stay abreast of trends and techniques in the industry that other authors are utilizing to create their books.

Apparently they’ve learned something I still struggle with. These people know how to utilize every moment while I fritter away my day. I legitimize much of what eats up my time because it’s stuff that must be done; like walking the dog and washing dishes and scrubbing the inside of the refrigerator (okay, I don’t do that one very often) and sweeping the floors and running errands and folding laundry. Productive people do the same things. They have dogs to walk and litter boxes to clean out and breakfast to cook and kids to get on the bus. They do these things and still achieve their goals. Where am I missing it?

That's the question, isn't it? That's what each of us has to figure out if we want to accomplish anything. For me, the key is deciding how important my goals are. If something is important, I will give it priority. If I have a doctor’s appointment at 1:45, I give that appointment priority and won’t let anything keep me from getting there on time. If I have a conference call at 9:15, I set an alarm and leave a post-it note on the bathroom mirror to make sure I'm on the line at the designated time.

Often, the things we say we want to do are hard or scary or uncomfortable, so we let other things take precedence. We put them off until we barely even think about them anymore. Recently I read this quote.

“In any area of your life that you want to change, adopt this rule. Just do the things that you don’t want to do.”
― Mel Robbins, Stop Saying You're Fine: Discover a More Powerful You

If I want to lose weight, I need to say no to the cheesecake. Of course I don’t want to. I love cheesecake. But I should love to fit into the new dress for my reunion more. I might want a beautiful landscaped front yard, but I keep putting off the work. If I want a beautiful front yard badly enough, I will do the thing I don’t want to do, which is getting down on my hands and knees and moving dirt.

What area in your life do you want to change? Now, what is the thing you need to do to change it, even though you don’t want to? You owe it to yourself to do it anyway. You may find passing on the cheesecake wasn’t that hard, especially when you see the changes in your body. You may find the beautiful yard was worth the sacrifice of getting your hands dirty.

Figure out what you want to change in your life, and then pinpoint what you’re putting off doing. My challenge for you this week is to do that thing anyway, no matter how much you dread it. Just once. Then stick with it, and each subsequent time will get easier. And probably more rewarding. Few things worth having come easy, and easy things seldom get us what we want most.

Beauty in a Tadpole

The best thing about working in southern Ohio near the West Virginia border is getting there. When I first got the job, I spent the nearly two-hour long drive staring out the window at the rugged hills, green pastures and tree-lined ridges overlooking the Ohio River. Winter revealed a whole new world out my window as rocky outcroppings, cliffs, and endless valleys, that had been hidden when the leaves were full, came into view. That was four years ago.

I still take the same route to the jagged southeastern tip of Ohio just before you cross over into West Virginia. The trees and cliffs and valleys carved by a relentless river are still there. Suddenly, though, I realized I was no longer as amazed by the splendor laid out for my pleasure as I had been when I first started working there. Instead of noticing the beauty and glorious creation around me, I focused on the work ahead of me.

What a shame. When did I get too busy to notice I was in the middle of God’s wondrous creation? Regardless of where any of us are today, there is beauty & wonder all around us. Sometimes we might have to take a moment to find it. But it shouldn’t take long. My grandson just called me outside to see the tadpole he caught. He’s been gathering them out of my rain barrel all day, and he found an amazing specimen with front and back legs and a translucent tail. Even toes. In the history of little boys, I doubt a finer tadpole has ever been scooped out of a rain barrel.

May I always view Creation with the same bright eyes & childlike wonder. The earth is God’s to do with what He will, yet He chose to let us enjoy it and marvel in it for the brief span of time we’re here. Whether it’s a child’s laugh or a blue heron lifting off the water, or a hummingbird making quick work at my feeder, or even a tadpole about to lose his tail, may we never get too bored or distracted or busy to recognize the beauty of the world we live in. A world whose wonders will never cease to be revealed as long as we take the time to notice and be appreciative.

May we never be too busy to hear: “In the rustling grass I hear him pass. He speaks to me everywhere.” This is My Father’s World by Maltbie D. Babcock


When is the last time you've marveled at creation? What glorious wonder took your breath away and reminded you God sees you and loves you and delights in the things you delight in?