Strengths

Dear Student,
Don’t worry when people tell you it will be hard to find a job. What the doom-and-gloom folks don’t understand is that they have something as contagious as the H1N1 virus– anxiety. Like the flu, they are probably “carriers” without even realizing it. You can innoculate yourself.

What do you use your strengths in service of? Linking strengths to purpose may help you refine and clarify your own sense of purpose in life. It may also expand your sense of what your strengths can be used for. It may also increase the priority you place on strengths development and strength-related goals, and thus it may increase goal-striving and achievement.

I visited Maui, a breath-taking beautiful island where I experienced multiple moments of awe, elevation, spirituality, and connection with all things larger than myself. Stepping outside urbanization and its demands stimulated my strengths of open-mindedness, appreciation of beauty and capacity to love. Today, I am more motivated than ever to be respectful of the environment through the dozens of everyday choices that we know about, and should never fail to make.

I found this quotation on a billboard in the City Hall Square in Copenhagen while on holiday there last month: “Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity.” Recognizing moments of fear or anxiety is simple enough but entering a state of curiosity is a real challenge for me, probably has something to do with my practical sensibility.