Self Quest Thursday: what part of your personality are the most proud of?

It’s so easy to be critical… critical with our surroundings, with others, and of course, with ourselves.

Sometimes I wonder if all these critical thinking skills that we are taught (& are teaching our kids) are not balanced enough with simple, accepting, affirming thoughts that let our minds rest and come back to a healthy baseline. It seems like as a society we are perpetually on high alert looking to make analysis and evaluations of what’s in front of us.

Note: I’m not downplaying the importance of critical thinking (especially in today’s world), but it has to be balanced with calming, affirming, security-inducing thoughts about ourselves and the world around us. I think that the lack of this balance is a huge contributor to the rampant anxiety in our world, which undoubtedly makes us worse collectively.

With that in mind, I want to offer you a question that I asked my husband and my three kids (9, 7, and 4) over dinner the other night:

What part of your personality are you the most proud of?

Another way to ask this question if accessing self-pride feels tricky to you, is to ask yourself what you VALUE about your personality the most.

Let me be clear that this is not a question about your accomplishments and external accolades. It is a question about your innate personality –how YOU show up in the world that makes you feel proud and valuable. It is not about what you have done, but who you ARE.

You can take this question and simply reflect on it on your own, you can use it as a journal prompt (very powerful ✍️), or you can discuss it with your friends or family (so fun & builds connection 👯‍♀️).

I loved hearing what my kids and husband responded to this question because knowing what they value about themselves, gives me a way to lean into building their confidence in a way that's aligned with them.

Personally, what came up for me as I was reflecting on my personality is that I am proud of myself that I don't hold on to grudges. Nine times out of ten, I am able to let things go and move on. I don't stay angry or offended very long. In fact, I often cannot even remember what an argument was about 😂

With love as always,

Caroline