I was recently asked to contrast three strengths and weaknesses of mine and give specific examples of each for an application. The strengths came to me fairly quickly, and I thought the weaknesses would be more of the same, as I have always been harder on myself than anyone else. However, I was surprised when I immediately came up with two weaknesses and then drew a complete blank. I didn’t know what to say for my third. I would write out things I struggled with and then erase the words because they weren’t “good” enough. They didn’t show the sort of authenticity I desired to share. They weren’t real. Raw. Vulnerable.
I enlisted the help of my best friend, desperately seeking an answer that would suffice to this question. He told me that I turn every negative situation into a positive one, so he couldn’t think of anything that was fair to deem a weakness. Honestly, although the comment made me smile, for the better part of the day I unsure whether he just wanted to avoid hurting me or if that was truly how he viewed me—a person who turned every negative into a positive. In a world that is absolutely flooded with negativity, a compliment like that means everything, and I wouldn’t ever take it lightly. I appreciated his kind words. But, there I was, still in need of an answer to my question.
Later that night he shared with me what he truly thought to be my weakness. The application had been turned in hours prior to that moment, and the conversation had drifted through several different topics since then, but just as though I had asked him the question seconds before, he said, “I think your biggest flaw is that you see the good in people to no end.”
I mulled over his words as we walked in silence for a little while. I thought of all of the chances I had given to people in my past and the hurt that came into my life because of it. I thought about how difficult it is to love and encourage others when they have hurt me. I thought about how much my kindness has been misconstrued as naivety, allowing people to believe they could take advantage of me. And, I thought about how they did.
However, after sifting through my thoughts about “seeing the good in people to no end,” I decided it isn’t my biggest flaw. It’s my greatest strength. The people who are more difficult to love need it the most. The ones who make mistakes more often than they’d like to admit are the ones who require forgiveness. The people who hurt others—whether accidentally or on purpose—have hurt deep within their hearts that needs to heal. And what better way to heal what is broken and dark than to pour light and love into it? Maybe I am naïve. Maybe I’m just optimistic. But maybe, just maybe, I am learning to live life the way it was intended to be lived: with abundant love in my heart for the broken, lost, and hurting. Never will I consider that a weakness, for it is my greatest strength.
