Kim and I recently hosted some good friends for lunch. Among the troupe of visitors was a five-year-old boy with blonde hair named Elroy. He approached the door with a pointy yellow crown stationed on his head. It was crudely bejeweled with markers of varying color.
“What’s with the crown?” I asked.
He didn’t skip a beat. “I’m the King of Pretending,” he exclaimed.
I was honored; it was the first time we were able to welcome royalty into our home. As I observed him throughout the day, playing with cars and creating things out of Play-Doh, it became very clear that this monarch was the real deal. He really WAS the King of Pretending.
What are YOU the king (or queen) of? What is your greatest gift, your natural talent? (Everyone has at least one, you know.)
How much time do you spend on working to develop that gift? One school of thought out there is that we all need to shore up our weaknesses, spending the bulk of our time working on improving the areas where we fall short. The problem with that strategy is that in reality, the most we’re ever going to elevate ourselves to is a level of average mediocrity. If that’s what you’re going for, have at it.
But by spending the time focusing on our strengths, we have a real opportunity to become great at something. Where would Tiger Woods be if he decided to work on shoring up his auto mechanic skills? Or what if Einstein had put his energy into getting good at playing the piano? Or if Bill Gates had decided to make strides in becoming a better basketball player?
We probably would have never heard of any of them.
God designed you to be great. Not average, not good, but GREAT. Not great at everything though; that’s his thing. We’re all parts of one body, designed to work together. Everybody has his or her part to play. God gave you the raw materials to be great at something, your job is to focus on that talent, develop it, and share it with the rest of us. That’s when life transforms from a dull, just-trying-to-get-through-the-day existence into a passion-filled adventure.
What are you the king of? What are you working on becoming great at? Don’t be shy; be as bold as Elroy and share your gift with the rest of us in the comments.
I love how kids are so matter of fact about answering questions like “What’s up with the crown?” “I’m the King of Pretending” – and I’m sure he had a perfectly serious face on when he answered you. I have a nephew who would be a different animal every day on vacation. In the morning I’d ask him, what are you today? He would say, “I’m an iguana”, or “I’m a cat”, or some other animal. It was fun to see what kind of animal he would dream up. My goal is to be as brave as kids are.
That’s a pretty good goal to have, Minette. And yes, he was dead serious when he answered the question.
I love it! It reminds me of a quote from Thomas Merton: “The fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose,
cast our awful solemnity to the wind, and join in the general Dance.”
Thanks!
Bill
Ooh! Great quote!
Really cute post!
I’m the queen of coupons. My husband does the grocery shopping, but I make the list and give him the coupons. He says the check-out clerks always tell him to keep me around because I save him lots of money. (I think my best was 64 dollars in savings) :P
Nice. That’s an especially good thing to be the queen of these days!
What a great blog! I’m trying to be the queen of making my dreams come true…but it’s slow going because the reality of being a responsible adult keeps getting in the way!
Donna
Nothing truly worth having is ever easy, Donna. Keep on keepin’ on!
After spending a week with your Lucy I would have to say that she is the QUEEN of SMILES. She bestowed so many smiles on her audience it was unbelievable. Her smile made everyone she came in contact with feel like royalty! Including: maids, waitresses, porters, receptionists, airport folks, strangers, people of all ages!