Assets

If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.
Robert Quillen

I doubt if any of us really knows what all of our assets are. Most of us have a much easier time listing our faults than our strengths. We are much more aware of our weaknesses, of all the things we can't do, or at least can't do as well as we think other people can. We are typically in a big competition with other people; and if we can't do something better than they can than it becomes something that we devalue in ourselves. What's the use of having an ability if other people have it too, and do it better.

This is an unfortunate way of thinking. We are constantly putting ourselves down because we think that other people won't be impressed by our abilities. But the true worth of our abilities is not to be measured by other people, or compared to other people. It is something that is just between God and ourselves. Only we can really be aware of our own abilities. But that can only happen when we open ourselves up to God's guidance through our intuition, instead of relying on what other people say and do around us.

Instead of focusing on all the things that you wish were better about yourself, on all the self-improvement books out there, it may be wiser to concentrate on your strengths. On knowing that you are actually a wonderful person with many great assets which can always be developed into something even better. Don't let your weaknesses overshadow your strengths. Don't let your emotional bank account show a loss. What we all really need is the understanding that each of us has more strengths than weaknesses; that if we count all our assets, we will always show a profit.