Having the qualities of being a learner/problem solver and being self-motivated have served you well in that you probably have developed many of your talents & gifts. You are seen by others as very capable. Being honest with yourself, you realize it too.
Being capable is such a blessing. You are able to help solve people’s problems, touch their lives with a talent, communicate in a way that makes sense, generate wealth, inspire them to do things they did not think they could do themselves, do more things at once, make the complex seem simple. What a blessing to be capable of so much. But If you are not careful, using all of those beautiful gifts start to become a burden. Until you start applying the principle of the sack.
In the South, we have a saying that you can’t put 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound sack. They just want fit. No matter how bad you want them to or how bad you need them to, it just can’t happen. What we try to do is cut up those 10 pounds of potatoes into little chunks and stuff them in there. You get more pounds in there, but they aren’t the same now and go bad quickly. So too does this happen when we try to apply our gifts in too many places. There is not enough time or we sacrifice the quality of our gift in order to apply as many places as possible.
Capable people typically possess the trait of wanting to serve people, please people, and use their gifts to its greatest potential. This trait combined with the capability trait is what can turn the blessing into the curse.
Well meaning intentions ultimately don’t hit the mark because of the principle of the sack. We cannot say Yes to everybody or everything. No matter how good a fit we are for it, how easy it may be for us to do, how much impact it can have, how much gratification we will get out of it, how much money we may make. All these things are good, but that is where the trap is. They are all good things. It’s not like we are using our capability to hurt people. Since it is good, we should do it. Right? WRONG! Because, regardless of their goodness, they all just won’t fit.
So I have adapted the saying to come up with a principle to empower capable people. Mine says, you can’t fit 10 pounds of good things in a 5 pound good sack.
To make the most meaningful impact, pick the 5 good things that you love and feel called to positively impact and use your capability to make the greatest impact in those things.
Drop the guilt of saying no and be encouraged that you are making a tremendous difference where you are capable and called!