50 Things I’m Good At

June 24, 2010 in REFLECTIONS with 6 Comments

It’s hard to admit that you’re good at things. It feels like bragging. My experience in pastoring and counseling, in fact, has shown me that people are far better at listing their weaknesses than their strengths. But everybody is good at something. Here are some things I am good at. By the way, you might try this someday, and if you do it, I dare you to write your list without qualification. Don’t discuss it. Just make a list. Here is mine, in no particular order, or level of “good”-ness.

1. Coming up with lists of things I’m bad at

2. Writing

3. Playing guitar

4. Knowing what to do in complex relationship situations

5. I’m a good father

6. I’m a good husband

7. Fixing computers

8. Conversations about deep things

9. Making gourmet coffee drinks

10. Writing backwards in cursive

Here you go. You weren't just going to take my word for it, were you?

Here you go. You weren't just going to take my word for it, were you?

11. Pig-Latin and ubby-dubby

12. Counseling

13. Teaching

14. Staying up late

15. Memorizing things

16. Making jokes with a completely straight face so people think I’m serious at first

17. Making my family laugh

18. Encouraging people

19. Shooting clay pigeons

20. Ping pong

21. Typing

22. Songwriting

23. Bass guitar

24. Piano

25. Drums

26. Making spaghetti

27. Telling jokes

28. Thinking through details and making a plan

29. Managing our money

30. Learning

31. Listening

32. Leading

33. Singing

34. Shaving my head

35. Making Christy happy

36. Preaching

37. Introspection

38. Saying “I’m sorry”

39. Backing my cars out of extremely tight places

40. Learning from my mistakes

41. Making pizza

42. Steadily improving myself

43. Serving other people

44. Making complex things easy to understand (comparisons and analogies)

45. Verbalizing my feelings

46. Appreciating the meaning in small moments

47. Encouraging, developing, and guiding my children

48. Being content with what I have materially

49. Figuring out how to use technology

50. Recalling the words to nearly every song I’ve ever heard, along with artist name, and year of release, plus or minus a couple years

51. Bringing out good things in others

52. Getting sentimental

53. Doing more than is required

  • Janinne Garrett

    Many of these things have been true about you for a long, long time and most likely are the basis for the others. (not sure what to say about the backwards cursive but I bet you could do it way back then too! Also, how does one figure out he can do such a thing?) I’m glad you know your list!

    • http://thefallencleric.com thefallencleric

      Learned how to do backwards cursive in college. Had been doing backwards printing since grade school so I figured it shouldn’t be too hard to learn cursive. It wasn’t. I was challenged to learn it when I heard that Leonardo DiVinci used to write his notes this way so that other people couldn’t rip off his ideas.

  • Lori

    I’m glad you are good at these things. I found your blog by googling “struggling with faith”. I have been making it through days and nights by reading your posts and your FB page. I’m struggling and it is not easy, but thank you for blogging. Thank you also for your suggested books on faith. I’m excited to choose one and start reading. :)

    • http://thefallencleric.com thefallencleric

      I’m glad you got to my blog! Spend as much time here as you like, and I’ll keep the posts coming!

  • Chris Shaeffer

    I’m quite impressed by #10.