Fix Weakness, or Showcase Strength?

Exercise equipment and workout shoes

 
Last night, I was at an incredible power networking and launch event for women in healthcare here in Toronto. Congratulations to #HBAToronto on such a successful kickoff! I did have one thing that troubled me, though. One of the speakers was talking about all the guilt, remorse, and feelings of unworthiness that we sometimes deal with. 

Don’t get me wrong: we all need to take time to be vulnerable; my friend Anne Day expressed this so well in her Company of Women blog. What we don’t need to do, is focus so much energy on what we feel is wrong with us. We can be vulnerable without feeling any of those terrible negative emotions: simply say, “I need help with…”. I would also add to this, that experience has shown me that most women have had enough training and conditioning to focus on weaknesses, and we can spend too much time on fixing them. Weak spots don’t need us to look at them; indeed, to mend them, we must firmly attach them to something much stronger. So if you have a weak spot you’re worried about, instead of spending all your time looking for how to make it “not weak”, find a strength you have, that you can use to bridge the thin spot, repair the crack, or patch the hole. You’ll find if you repeatedly do this, it will not only repair the weaknesses; your attention to what is strong, whole, and resilient will reinforce those parts of you as well. 

I’m Megann Willson and I’m one of the partners in PANOPTIKA. We help clients to see everything and make better decisions. Stay strong!