Welcome dear friend, do you have your favorite beverage & delightful tasty treat ready?
I have a fruity tea blend of seasonal berries & my tasty treat is a small plate of delicious nuts, dried fruit & cheese.
We are sitting under the blossoming lilac flowers of our Jacaranda tree today, the scent of honeysuckle is heavy upon the air.
Now we are settled shall we begin our time of reflection together?
Personal Capacity
I find the topic of personal capacity very interesting & living with chronic health issues have only heightened this interest.
I recently reflected upon Knowing your body’s capacity… giving a greater awareness of how differently our bodies function with Chronic Health conditions to that of wellness.
But are you aware that each of us has a uniquely designed capacity in the following areas; physical, emotional, cognitive & spiritual?
These however do not exist in isolation to each other, they are intricately interwoven to make our overall capacity uniquely ours!
Over my professional life I have had many patients compare their abilities & capacities to others.
This left them feeling less than, unworthy, devalued & depressed.
Rather than seeing that they were actually living to their own unique capacity to the greatest of measures.
Sadly in this day & age, with the plethora of multimedia highlighting conformity to populist fashion, lifestyles, looks & wellness, we are quite often left feeling deficient in our individual qualities & capabilities by comparison!
Truth; I am not you & you are not me.
We can not compare ourself to one another!
For we have been created as One of a kind!
Let me personalize this for you, you may be aware that chronic health conditions have impacted my capacity both physically & cognitively ~ also known as Fibromyalgia brain fog. Shared in Listening…
Deadly Comparisons
Now if I start comparing myself to others who are living in wellness or have more energy in their chronic health conditions than I do I am left wanting & feeling very discouraged.
However, when I reflect upon my own uniquely designed capacities.
Even in this time of chronic illness with all its Challenging days.
My faith & gratitude grow deeper for my amazing Creator.
Bringing joyful acceptance in who I have been created to be, uniquely Jennifer!
“I will give thanks to You, for I am exceedingly & wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works, & my soul knows it very well.”
Psalm 139: 14 Refer
It can be fruitful to reflect upon our uniqueness & really start to flourish to our fullest of measures in this present season of life.
So start walking in who you were uniquely created to be my friend.
Don’t be deceived by those who portray conformity as the pinnacle of success!
As you are One of a kind, uniquely designed my friend.
Until next time,
You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook
Or in Prayer
© 2018 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photo by Pexels.com
Tea With Jennifer 
You have been nominated
https://tangietwoods.blog/2020/05/16/the-sunshine-blogger-award/
Thank you Tangie, I feel truly honored by your nomination. Bless you! 😀
Although I know things have changed, when I was in school we were all encourage to fit into the same mold, and at work we are all encouraged to achieve at the same or better level. We, as we are, are often told we need to be better and I think that carries over to chronic illness. Just thinking ‘out loud’. 🙂
Yes sadly within Western credentialized society to have a uniformed reproduction of the workforce, standards were set to have a pool of workers to draw from, conformity within education was thus set back in the 18th century.
This meant that individuality was not encouraged but conformity (moulding) to a set standard was with differing levels within that to meet the differing tiers within the workforce. Eg. labourers, middle management, upper management, executive etc…
Excellent reminder Jennifer! Trying to be like anyone else is a total waste of time but its sad that so many waste years of their lives doing just that, particularly teenagerd.
I encourage my students to compete against themselves, to raise the bar and set new targets for themselves. Then when we take time to reflect back and acknowledge all they achieve they can really see their individual progress. We might work and achieve as a group but we progress at an individual pace.
It is always a great idea to focus on our own growth & development without comparison to others. 😀 Keep up the great work Marie!
It is amazing how God has made each of us so different! It’s definitely better to focus on being who he has made us to be rather than getting caught up in how we compare to others.
Definitely Lesley 😀
Each Sunday as I watch the congregation go forward for the Eucharist, I am amazed at the loving diversity God has created.
I agree Elizabeth…I love observing people living life & am always amazed at the variety of characters He has created. It makes life wonderfully interesting…wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same!
Jennifer, we are truly created by our Maker to be a “one of a kind”, uniquely made in His image. I am sorry you deal with chronic pain, blessings and hugs❤️
Thank you Pam, we are definitely unique & it makes life so interesting! 😀