Do you know what you're good at?

I was thinking about this very question (What am I good at?) at the meeting with the members of the Arizona Book Publishing Association this week. I'd been invited to speak to the group about blogging.

I arrived ready and prepared to speak. I was energized. I was excited. As I was distributing my hand-outs, a woman stopped me, "Jackie, do you remember me?"

Of course I did. It was Dee McVicker, a writer I know from my past life. She'd actually entered my subconscious mind a few weeks ago, though I can't recall why. So it was with great comfort that I saw her in person. She was a part of a writers' group called The Word Association I'd helped organize several years ago. We disbanded shortly after I became separated from my husband. For me, writing stopped, and I stopped going to the meetings, the same meetings that I had so carefully planned for so many months. It was my baby, and I was very proud of the work we'd accomplished. Through that group--it started out with four or five friends and grew to about 20 writers Valleywide--we were meeting editors, getting more assignments, and feeling more worthy of what we could contribute. I even managed to attract heavy duty guest speakers. It was a very satisfying effort. We never regrouped, however, and my interests changed and grew beyond just writing.

So I was happy that Dee sat near me during this meeting. We had a few moments to catch up. During our conversation, it occured to me that I'm very good at bringing people together and helping them find new opportunities. That's what I was doing at this meeting that night. This kind of empowerment very much relates to my work with the mental BIKE, and my travel, and now the blogging. I told her this. She agreed.

Today, after I wrote an article about organizing a blogathon that will be published in the ABPA newsletter, something else occured to me: my new 30-second commercial. I'm going to write it out for the first time right here:

"I'm Jackie Dishner. Whether through travel, blogging or my special brand of BIKE, I open your eyes to new opportunities."

That's what I do, and I'm proud of my work.

So, now I ask you: Do you know what you're good at, and do you take advantage of that in your personal and professional life?

Post a comment and let me know.