Things I’m Not Good At [Family Life Project]

Our Family Life Project theme this week is

Your Activities

I spent the first 30 years of my life focusing my time on things I was naturally good at.  Like music. And school. And performing.

I always hated to do things that I wasn’t proficient at immediately and would become easily discouraged and drop it.

Well, the tables have switched.

I still don’t like doing things I’m not good at, but it seems that my days now are largely occupied with activities I have no talent for.

Like Gardening.

I’m still learning the difference between plants and weeds.

I killed a house plant a few years ago by forgetting to water it. It was sitting next to the kitchen sink for months. Yes, the irony.

I’m the one in charge of the yard.  So I hired lawn care. They make me feel so good about myself!

But I still have to plant/tend the garden and monitor all the flower beds.

We’ll see if anything survives.

I’m not an athlete.

I joined Crossfit in March.  I’ve never been much of an athlete.  EVER.

I’m still not. I’ve successfully gained 8 pounds since joining and usually finish last in every class.

But I go every morning.  And spend 45 minutes doing something I’m bad at.

I’m not very Patient.

I have discovered more about my temper this past year than I ever have in my life.  It must be the red hair.

Or the mischievous trouble maker.

 

 

It makes me so uncomfortable to spend so much time doing things where I progress so slowly.

I want to be great right now!  I’m putting in the time, after all!  I often have to remind myself of this fantastic quote:

“You will find out that things that grow slowly live longer.

 

Look at nature. In the animal kingdom or the plant kingdom things that mature very quickly have very short lives.

The mayfly is a good example. It is born, grows to an adult stage, mates, reproduces, and dies before the day is over. It was an adult about the time it was hatched.

 

Things that grow slowly live longer… you may grow more slowly in mind and spirit, but you will learn and your learning will stay with you.

-Boyd K. Packer

I may be growing slowly. But hopefully the harder I have to work and the slower the progress comes, the longer it will last.  Like a Redwood Tree that takes a hundred years to reach it’s full height but lives for thousands of years.  Maybe I should go and plant one. In my garden 😉

Check out Rhonda’s images HERE.

Brooke Snow is a Lifestyle photographer in Cache Valley, Utah.  Despite her lack of a green thumb, she has a luscious strawberry patch that keeps producing despite neglect.  It must be magic.  If you eat the berries straight from the patch it brings on spontaneous dancing.

Brooke teaches inspiring online photography classes that bring you confidence in your skills and creativity.

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8 Responses

  1. You are also so amazingly insightful! I wish I knew as much about myself as you do. And I’m a terrible gardener too… luckily I married a man with green thumbs. Oh, and the patience thing, I think it’s because you have a kid… I used to be patient 🙂

  2. Remember, I’m ever the practical one… sweetie, go find someone to grind your shovel for you, or get a new one. 🙂 It’s one thing to not be good at something, it’s another thing to have something actively working against you!

    1. ha ha ha!!! Thanks for the tip Beth!! I actually am not really using the shovel, but pulled it out for the picture! But yes, good tools most certainly make a difference and we really do need a better shovel. This one was free… probably for a reason 😉 You’re awesome!

  3. Ha ha Brooke. What you said about yourself sounds so familiar. My husband always teases me that I have to be good at something or that is it- I don’t do it. It is something I am working on as I don’t really want to pass that idea on to my daughter, for example- taking photography classes. I am not necessarily a great photographer but am doing it for fun.

  4. Dearest Brooke, how I adore you and your insightfulness! I love these pictures, and love that you’re doing things that don’t come easily (especially since you are so crazy talented at EVERYTHING, it’s pretty hard to find something you can’t pick up in a day or week 🙂 )

    Good luck in your garden. And in the garden of life and the plants of patience.

  5. Wow – if we lived closer to one another, I’d take you out for lunch and imagine we’d spend a few hours marveling at how similar we are! I always thought of my impatience as a massive character flaw, but if someone as successful and driven as you, in my same passionate field, can make it work then by gosh so can I! You are truly inspiring and I look forward to reading all of your posts. 🙂

    1. Oh Joanna! I love kindred spirits whom I’ve never met! Thank you so much for your comment! And if we are ever in the same place, I’d be absolutely DELIGHTED to do lunch 🙂

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