I have recently learned that I have been severely selling myself short to that point of being handicapped.
When someone compliments you, do you brush it off? Sometimes, especially Christians, in our efforts to avoid being prideful and walk in humility, we short change the skills we have developed and the talents God gave us.
I recently connected with a former recruiter to get some perspective on the impression my resume gives to a potential employer or client. I never met the recruiter before and she was referred to me by a college friend so this was going to be perfect: a stranger with no prior knowledge of me could give some honest feedback.
Her comments were so unbelievably complimentary that I couldn't believe she was talking about me. She said I had excellent experiences and just needed to tweak a few things to make those experiences really shine.
I had never thought my experiences amounted to much because they weren't with fortune 500 companies. But as I think about it... skills are skills no matter where you develop them. I am slowly and I do mean slowly remembering the compliments I used to brush off. I am remembering the skills I used volunteering. I am rethinking my work experiences through a new set of eyes...appreciation!
In talking to the people who know me well, they kept saying things like "finally", "it's about time", and "at last", as if they knew I was blinded by my shortsightedness all along. And knowing them, they probably told me about it but I didn't listen.
The BRAVE lesson for me was giving myself permission to actually see my strengths. I AM good at what I love to do. Recognizing that isn't prideful but actually gives glory to God.
