Stop Doing Things You Don’t Do Well

“Do what you’re good at and everything else will fall into place.”

—WILLNETT CROCKETT

In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

—Proverbs 3:6

Do you find yourself trying to keep up with everyone else you know when it comes to talent and ability? Ever find yourself falling short with some of those things? Any person desiring to simplify their life must learn to give at least 80 percent of their time to their top two or three strengths and stop wasting time doing things they don’t do well. We are all encouraged by accomplishment; therefore, if we keep doing what makes us feel like a failure, we won’t have the encouragement we need to enjoy our lives.

You don’t have to do something well just because someone you know does it well. My neighbor was the perfect homemaker. She made her family’s clothes, had a garden, was a great decorator and cook; she could have been an equal with Martha Stewart. I, on the other hand, could not sew, had no garden, and was, at best, an average cook. I attempted a garden but hated it. I tried to sew and hated it even worse than the garden. I was miserable and life seemed very complicated because I spent every day doing things I hated just so I could feel like I was a “normal woman.”

God had to teach me that even though I was not like my neighbor, it did not mean something was wrong with me. I had to be bold enough to stop doing things I did not do well and stop worrying about what people thought. If we were all good at the same thing, a lot of needs in this world would never be met. God equips each of us in a different way, and it is by working together, each with our own strengths and talents, that we accomplish His will.