I’m the Gray - episode 219
Dynamic. That is how I would describe Ella Parlor. During our conversation she had great points to make about many things including how divided we are with us vs them, getting too far into extremes. What about meeting in the middle somewhere. Ella is the gray and I can relate. And identifying her superpower? Her voice. She can cut tension with humor and spark joy. Ella is able to make people laugh and smile on their hardest days.
Audacious. Resilient. Authentic.
— Ella Parlor
There’s Nothing Better
Thoughts from I’m the Gray
How do you talk of superpowers without circling back to superheroes? That’s why those couple of questions are included in these conversations. I do love that superpowers are considered something we can have as mere mortals. And by the way if you google superpowers there are a lot of great ones to consider like this link from a summer camp of all things. A few I thought were fun: emotoscan (ability to read a room), manifesting (turning ideas into real things - very popular right now), elevate (can make others feel special), and grounding (can calm environments).
Forbes weighed in on how superpowers relate to the work environment although clearly these are desirable in the rest of your life too. The article starts off with three questions and you know how I like those:
What unique contribution do I bring?
What do people rely on me for?
What would be missing if I were to leave?
They went on to list things like forgiving, caring, optimistic, curious, determined, bright, and playful among others. All good of course.
Even before I started writing this particular blog I knew mine. But it took the idea of this series for me to come up with the word for it. Encourage. As Jacinta said last week, I can’t help myself about her own superpower, and that is exactly how I feel about encouraging people. Admittedly I’m probably a bit better at doing this for others than I am with myself. I think that’s a common plight. Yet this whole podcast and blog are a vehicle to do this thing I love to do, encourage, so much so that I am naturally encouraged by the conversations I have with our guests.
The very word itself means to stimulate spiritually. Well, that’s a pretty cool definition. I like that it has that added element of the spiritual, or what I think of as faith. Being a woman of faith, it has an extra sweet ring. The synonyms are all gorgeous too: inspire, hearten, restore, strengthen, to name a few. And I love that it has the word courage built in. Excellent synonyms here: boldness, braveness, audacity (see Ella’s word above), spunk, and tenacity. So to encourage someone is to help spark their bravery to do a hard thing, or to lift them up when they are in a low place. When I read all these words I can hardly believe I get to do this, that it seems to come naturally, that it’s what brings me joy. Is there anything better?
What comes to mind when you ask yourself what your superpower is? Can you identify one? It’s that thing that sums up the very best of you. It’s likely made up of many pieces, but they equal far more together than the sum of their parts. It’s very empowering to claim the one that is yours. And I’d love to hear what it is, and how pumped up you feel now that you know that you know.
This is the beauty of getting to know yourself. You have this life, and you’ve been gifted with so many things that make you, you. Certainly the God who created you wants you to make the very most out of it all. So do it for him, and for you. There’s nothing better, nothing sweeter than opening and enjoying every gift you’ve been given. Don’t miss out.
Power is not only in the possibility but even more in the acting upon it.
Explore all of your promise.
