On weaknesses...yup, they're annoying.

Nobody's perfect. That's a fact.

Flaws, weak points, thorns in the flesh -- whatever you call them, those are the habits, big and small, that irk you but at the same time seem to come back to you somewhat. And not only are they annoying to us personally, they  (more importantly) get on other people's nerves as well.

Weaknesses exist, I personally believe, in our own human nature, and we can also 'inherit' them from our surroundings, family members, media influences, etc. Today, I'm gonna elaborate on some of my main weaknesses (even if this leaves me feeling exposed in some way, I'm doing this as an effort to be more transparent), as well as some ideas that I've learned on how to deal with the weaknesses that we have.

(If you were wondering, yes, I actually do have a desire to rant, but my blog policy is that even rants are to be beneficial to you, my reader, since every experience is a learning opportunity, i.e don't repeat the mistakes that I have done!)

One of my main weaknesses that I have since young is the fear of taking risks. Maybe it was the sheltered environment that I was born into, where everything was done for me (Don't be mistaken: I'm very blessed to have loving parents, but at a young age I didn't force myself to toughen up), and whenever there was a chance for adventure in my early days, I refused it, choosing to minding my own business. I absolutely regret not venturing out at a young age and doing more things by myself instead of shying away, because at this age of late adolescence, to do many things that require guts would take a lot of willpower for me to do so, and it's worsened by the fact that at 18 going on 19, people expect you to be able to do a lot of stuff already...

One of the most obvious examples of this is every time I meet a random adult I know, they're bound to ask me if I drive my family around already, and then (!) I have to embarrassingly admit that I can count the number of times I took my mom's car out with my fingers after passing my driving test(5), and even that was with my mom beside me(sighs). Today, my mom casually commented that the only thing that was her concern if she were to go on vacation is our mobility, meaning that if I can confidently drive everyone around, she'd have no other major worries. Hmm...now thinking about that, it can be also a compliment of sorts, meaning that I can now gao dim or handle everything else already, and driving is just one (huge) step away from more independence.

Another weakness of mine that irks me a lot is my disability to catch what people say to me in conversation for the first time. This doesn't happen in learning, surprisingly, as I believe that God had blessed me with the natural ability to learn and adapt fast to whatever that I'm taught, intellectually, but when it comes to relating with people, I don't have this same strength! People need to repeat to me a few times something that was being said before I finally 'get it'. And if I was worried about losing face and didn't ask the other person to repeat the question again, I'd be stuck in blur-ness and make huger blunders afterward...! This weakness can also be tied to my lack of experience in social matters, no thanks to the fact that yours truly here is a social late bloomer...(that's actually a positive term to me, because late is always better than never, right?)

I can drone on and on about the weaknesses that I have, and at times I'm tempted even more to complain about the weaknesses of those around me. I know, complaining can seem pretty justified at times, especially when someone drives you up the wall, and you just want to go on and on about the person to release your anger towards them. On a bad day, it gets worse -- sometimes I feel like screaming in people's face or choking them out of anger...! I'm sure that you, my reader, have had those kind of days, too.

However, I also hold on to this life principle that prolonged complaining doesn't solve anything, and when it carries on, can get the air pretty toxic at times and only makes things worse, where the people you complain to add more and more fuel to the fire. Personally, I think that when we are not happy with someone, we should either honestly tell the person straight (if that person is close enough to you, and even then you tell them in a proper way), or, most of the time, talk about it and then (!) leave it, or even better, take a piece of paper and rant all about it (this is surprisingly therapeutic), or, as a Christian, I'd pray about it and leave my cares to God, as He has said in His word, "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7)", as well as (prayer) builds my relationship with Him. (now this I need to do more often)

So what can we do about these weaknesses that at times, bound us so often like how a computer virus takes on software? Well, I think that the solution to it is kinda simple actually, but at the same time, easier said than done for me and you alike:

• accept the fact that we are imperfect humans, so we are bound to make mistakes at one time or another, but
• identify them and work on improving in specific weaknesses. It's important that we do it one step at a time, because huge goals have the tendency to overwhelm us and make us more tempted to procrastinate and eventually give up. For example, if I wanted to improve in the area of taking initiative, I can start by perhaps asking at least one question in class, by striking up a conversation with one person outside my close friend circle (aka comfort zone), etc.
• Don't mentally critic ourselves whenever we make mistakes. I tend to do that most of the time, due to a more introspective nature (which I actually am pursuing change in, as to be more other-centered than thinking about my own actions all the time). Instead, (I tried this recently and it actually worked :)) just think through it, decide on the next plan of action, and move on.

Hope today's post helped us all give some thought to, and consider about what are weaknesses and how to deal with them. Of course, acknowledging my somewhat lack of experience in life, feel free to share your methods of dealing with weaknesses here :)