I had a good discussion with a friend today about knowing your place. On the down side it's a bit like the old adage, "Children should be seen and not heard" that was popular when I was a child, an adage I typically don't agree with. However, on the upside, to know your place is to recognize that you can't always have it your way, and you can't make change in every situation. So to know your place is to know where you have good capacity and where your capacity is challenged. To know your place is to maximize what you can do, and minimize the areas that steal your energy and deflate your confidence.
As I thought about this, I thought about areas that feel really good professionally and personally, areas where I feel like the work is good work and the work matches my belief system. For example, when I take my mom out to lunch, it feels good. We have a nice conversation and I'm able to be there for her or when I offer extra help sessions before school it feels good too. Students who come in are eager for the help, and I have the time and energy to help them in ways that matter. It's a win-win.
So to know your place and to feel good in that place it to find the situations that maximize your skill, energy, belief, and intent in positive ways and to avoid as much as possible the efforts that don't have that kind of synergy or positive result.
Yet there will always be areas of challenge, and with those challenges we have choice as to the best ways to handle the challenges. We can make the time to analyze the challenges and decide what is the best course of action, and when one decision doesn't work, we can look for other ways to meet a challenge in ways that matter.
This is probably psychology 101, but as we develop, our places change. Where we were five or ten years ago is not where we are today. Some challenges and opportunities that were once ours no longer exist, yet new opportunities and challenges emerge with every turn in the life path. So, in summary, the questions remain: What is your place? What opportunities and challenges do you face in this place, and what are the best courses of action at this time? Onward.
