"Name five things that you are not"

It was the end of the interview... all seemed to have gone well. If you subtract that I'd had a slow start due to my car not starting that morning and having to call for a ride last minute. I'd been able to make it to the building just in time. A benefit of preparing to leave ahead of time instead of on time. In preparation for the meeting I'd reviewed the tough interview questions list and aligned my positive responses in my mind. And yet I didn't anticipate, "name five things that you are not".

Of course I followed traditional protocol, "can you please repeat the question" followed by restating the question to buy myself time to think. But in the moment I was stumped; not in an haughty manner but in a I prepared to tell you all that I am kind of way. Along with stating my list of 3 things that I knew could always use polishing because I'm by no means perfect. Though it may have seemed elementary to the interviewer, he stated "give me the opposite of five things that you are". That moment of clarity gave me the aha breather that I needed to pull out of the hat the opposite of the 3 things that I strive to always be in my personal and professional life. I didn't have five. That last moment coupled with a couple of other things that wouldn't work for my family life ensured that the job wouldn't be a good fit. That was over a year ago but the question stuck with me and I added it to my list of toughest questions for future interview opportunities.

I've often pondered the question. Should I have had five things (yes, it's part of my over-analytical mind)? I came to the conclusion that I didn't have to have five things but I did need to know how to articulate the three in an expansive way if asked again. When I think about things that I am, I think about the traits that I possess or the values that I hold dear. I've spent a lot of time in my short time here on earth identifying my strengths in order to push past weakness's. All in an effort to maximize my time and significance. This led me to my thoughts today about the year we've had.

Thanksgiving came to a quick close and we stepped into December 2020; it's tempting to think about all the things that we had planned for this year. The resolutions, birthday parties, girls night outs and travel with 2020 Vision, hahaha! We entered this year with so many plans and yet we were abruptly halted mid-March. We were grounded; forced to be centered in that which matters most of all; faith, family, communication, love (humanity). I have no doubt that there have been some great accomplishments during this year and there's still time for more. But for many others there have been great losses and adjustments are still being made. However, if we're in this last month... we've remained, been maintained and are seeking strategies to push through. The only way that we're able to do that is to focus on what we have and not on what we don't.

This is not to discourage grief if you've lost someone or something dear to you. I'm in the stages of grief as well. There are many things in life that we must go through to grow through. Thank you for hanging out with me for a few minutes!

~Thankful, Grateful and Blessed.~