Gratitude Day 7: I'm Thankful For Being Reminded Of How Inadequate I Am

Image source

This is the last of my seven day positivity challenge post and it has been a blast. It took me awhile to figure out what to write last. I wondered if I should write about my wife who has supported me through many of my crazy endeavors, or should I write about the many supportive communities on Steemit, or should I write about my faith. However, I settled with this not because it sounds rather 'click-baity' rather, on how being reminded can be a positive thing.

First of, I should give you a bit of a background. I grew up in an education system centered around the standard Chinese education system. What that means is that I have been indoctrinated with the thought that more is good. For example, more homework is better and learning is measured through grades. Unfortunately for that kind of system, good old me who is less academically inclined would be labelled as 'stupid', 'slow' and 'lazy'. Those may just have been words, but tell that to a young 8 year old and those words become truth.

For many years I have had to carry that burden with me and it made me into a highly competitive person. These days, I have learnt to chill, much of it is because my beloved wife is the opposite of me, and I have seen the wisdom in not being overly competitive. The reason I was competitive however is largely due to how I was trained in the Chinese education setting. For example, if you are labelled as stupid, you should thus read more. If you are labelled as lazy, work harder and if you are labelled as slow, well, try a bit harder. Over time, that thought of trying hard evolves into being competitive.

Image source

However, I Am Thankful...

Let me be clear, I am not completely against the Chinese educations system of my country. Traditional it may be, like many other different systems and philosophies out there, it is not perfect. However, there are certain aspects of it that I am thankful for. One of them is in finding myself.

I believe you won't truly understand how something works until you have actually tried it out. Likewise, you won't know your own strengths and weaknesses until you have tried different activities. For example, you may think that you are bad at public speaking, but until you have really tried it out, it is hard to get a good gauge as to how bad or how good you truly are.

As I was told how inadequate I was, I had to rectify it by doing more, hoping to cover up my inadequacies. I have tried representing my school in at least three different kinds of sports and debating in at least two different languages. As time went by, the amount of activities helped me gain an idea of where my strengths lied and in time, focus on them. The problem is that, focusing on these activities on top of academic studies can result in a lot of stress.

I'm Also Thankful For The Stress

With a lot of stress to deal with, as long as you learn to manage it, you will start to learn a lot of things. First of all is time management. I have learnt how to work anywhere and at anytime of the day. This was cultivated when I was training for national tournaments. There were times we had to train at least three times a day and that left very little time for homework. Thus, I have learnt how to work on the bus and even by the side of the pool that I was training.

Image source

In addition, I have also learnt how to 'psych' or convince myself when faced with overwhelming odds. I'm sure most will not take it well if you are told that you are competing against the state champion. You start feeling stressed and you wonder how you would prevail. The thing is, if you were to give into fear immediately, that creates stress and it stops you from giving your all. Thus, I have learnt how to get over that quickly, which was important in debates and martial arts tournaments. This experience has been helpful, especially in new and challenging situations to this day.

I think you have an idea now as to how through focusing on your strengths, learning how to manage your time and stress, it all leads to you doing more and not less. This can quickly become something rather unhealthy.

Finding The Balance

A very difficult lesson to be learnt by most people, especially administrators in education is how more doesn't necessarily mean better. I have to constantly tell that to myself too, telling myself that doing more and achieving more doesn't necessarily mean that I am doing well. As such, I have to instead learn how to be intentional and focused, ensuring that there is continuity in all that I do instead of completing many things at one time. At the same time, I have to learn how to stop and smell the roses sometimes.

Image source

A colleague of mine once said that I am a workaholic and I have been trying since to stop being one. Especially since I am also a father, its a constant daily battle in balancing between work and family. Nevertheless, as I look back and remember the voices that have called me stupid, slow and lazy, I am thankful that at the end, these words have made me who I am today. I am thankful that I have learnt much and I am thankful to have started this #7daypositivitychallenge. Its been a great time remembering and for that I am thankful.

Nominations:

For this challenge, I will nominate @alyssaauh, @davidngtv and @crazybgadventure.

What are the rules of this challenge?

• Write a post about something you have to be positive about today - this could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit - just keep it positive :)
• Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
• Mention three people who should do this on each day.
• Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
  (Tip: You need to put the # in front of 7daypositivitychallenge or it will not let you use the tag.)
• Include a picture of something positive (related to your story if possible).

Thank you @lymepoet for nominating me! You can find the original challenge post here:
"7 Day Positivity Challenge" by @conradt

---