45. Which direction?

Tigger stuck his head into my office and asked if we could talk.  He’d been thinking his strengths were his problem.  “I’ve got lots of energy. It’s gotten me promoted and fired.  People like me, after they get past being annoyed by me.  That’s pulled me out of a few jams.  I’m not smooth, but I’m persuasive. If I couldn’t talk my way out of trouble, I think I’d have been forced to get clean a long time ago.” He paused for a moment. “So maybe if I go on some really sedating medication, stay away from people, and work alone, I’ll be better off. My strengths couldn’t get me into trouble.”

I said, “I think you’d be cheating yourself and the world.  Use your strengths, but use them wisely.  If you have a powerful engine, but poor steering, you don’t scrap the engine.  You fix the steering.  You have a lot of strengths, you just need some direction.”

We talked about how hard taking direction could be.

Today I will follow direction, I will help someone find direction.

Writing My New Story © 2015 by Ken Montrose

(Just a reminder: Writing My New Story is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to anyone you might know is purely coincidental.)