Knowing Your Self, Knowing Your Weapons
I know when most of us think of the story where a boy named David slays a giant named Goliath, we focus on his courage and his crazy slingshot skills. However, the thing that stands out the most to me in this story occurs when David’s preparing for the battle.
The king offers David his armor.
That seems like a pretty good thing, to go into battle wearing armor good enough for a king. David however, realizes that the king’s armor isn’t a fit. It wasn’t made for him.
So he declines.
Then he goes out to win the battle sans armor, both remembering his prior slingshot successes with the animals who were after his sheep while simultaneously focusing on the faithfulness of his God.
He remembers what and who has already made him successful.
Living conscious of his skill set and history, while remaining committed to his unique ways of optimal performance and function David, slays the giant with two things: 1) A sling shot and pebbles 2) Absolute trust in his Creator.
Now onto my point. Last week I started messing around with some business tools that leverage social media for marketing. It’s a fantastic concept that helps both the consumer and the business owner. However, for me, hitting the ground running to be an online presence kicked my butt. My OCD, performance issues, and addictive traits went into overdrive as I had my phone in hand way too much and I was super distracted from my people (husband and five kids), trying to keep up with threads/comments and formulating responses in my head.
So this week I went quiet.
After a few days' break, I realized I’m still not in a life space where I can fully engage with online communities because my little people and teenagers are watching. They are watching where my eyes and attention go and since they are with me so much, I can’t leverage the social media/online vehicle for marketing with the same capacity, tenacity, and frequency as others. If they don’t already (two already do), eventually my children will have smart phones in their hands and I still want to be able to see their eyes. So I need to prioritize that time sensitive commitment over vigilantly keeping up with my online participation.
I remembered my priorities, weaknesses, and strengths.
Hence the savvy, shiny, and effective armor others are utilizing to create platforms to drive their marketing doesn’t fit me. It's a little too heavy. And it’s funny because I’ve always been a sling shot and stone sort of underdog, so why would I try and hop into someone else’s armor? And the armor of giants, for that matter?
With that, I’m still committed to my once a week blog and I will continue posting good articles and ideas that help families and individuals thrive emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. But I’m going to keep it simple and strategic, running the race with the rhythms that make the most sense for keeping my other priorities strongly positioned. Basically I am back to my slingshot, my pebbles, and my big trust that my Creator’s got my back.
Can you relate to any of this? Maybe you are thinking of your sweet spots, aptitudes, and divine design. Hopefully you are realizing you don't have to fight the battle with the same tools for success that others are utilizing. Wear what fits, fight with what works, and trust in your Creator to have your back. Don't be surprised if an ease begins to settle on certain places in your life that heretofore had you pretty wound up with anxiety and obsessing.
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