Everyone has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. As far as I’m concerned, life is a learning experience, and recognizing and identifying our strengths and weaknesses can help us learn, improve, and evolve. It makes no difference whether they are positive or negative capacities. Recognizing our positive capacities can help us achieve our goals, while recognizing our negative capacities can help us develop.
Understanding oneself is the first step toward capitalizing on one’s abilities and minimizing one’s limitations. It is really interesting to take a step back and carefully assess yourself once in a while so that you do not construct an inaccurate image of yourself.
My calm and observant personality are my greatest assets. The things about my strengths are that they are a result of my personality. I don’t believe it will be difficult to keep these characters. However, in order to remain cool, I must understand how to cope with things in critical conditions. My tranquility stems from having coped with a variety of situations in critical conditions. So my previous experience is what makes me a peaceful person.
In my situation, I know that my perseverance in every attempt I undertake is a strength that has enabled me to achieve what I have today. I was a mediocre player who tried out for the school netball team when I was in primary school. My sister was then playing netball for the Malaysian national team, and I was obviously proud of her. In fact, I was so proud of her that I wore her national training jersey to one of my school’s practices. When the coach noticed I was wearing the unmistakable national colors, she stormed up to me and lectured me about how I had not earned the right to wear national colors.
Her parting shot was: “If you want so much to wear it, earn it!” I never forgot what she said. I trained very hard every day from then on. After school, I would be sweating it out on the court tossing the ball into the net. At the end of all this, I was spotted by the national team manager as a potential netball player, and that started my sojourn as a national netball player. Had it not been for the fact that I was determined to be worthy of the national colors, I would not have managed to endure those afternoons of baking under the sun and trying to perfect my aim.
I am also a really loyal person. It is difficult to get to know me because I am a shy person. But once I’ve established a friend, I’m always devoted to them. I don’t believe in mindlessly siding with my friends; my loyalty is the honesty with which I always let you know that what I do is never intended to hurt you. When my dear friend was in trouble because she had thrown a shoe at the fan, causing it to malfunction, I persuaded her to admit her mistake because it was the correct thing to do. But I’d never betray her. In fact, I spent the afternoons when she was `sentenced’ to detention walking with her all over the school grounds to collect litter. It was my way of saying that I stood by her no matter what.
However, I have several flaws that are harmful to my health. My hot temper is a good example. When I’m irritated, it’s quite tough for me to keep my temper in check. As the blood rushes to my face, I normally become very red in the face. Then, dressed as a dragon, I would scream at the unlucky soul who had provoked my wrath. Even my buddies would avoid me at moments like this! This strong temper is exacerbated by the fact that I am impatient. People that are slow to respond to me or do things would irritate me. These are the two characteristics that I need to improve.
I can also be really lazy. This may appear unusual given that I am a national netball player, but it is true. At home, nothing beats a good night’s sleep in my cozy bed. When my mother needs my assistance with something, I pretend to be asleep. Unfortunately, she has caught on and will drag me out of bed even if I am sound sleeping! This is my retaliation, I suppose.
Despite the fact that there are aspects of myself that I need to improve, I still believe myself to be really likeable. My candor in evaluating oneself is a good first step toward accepting myself. This is probably why I have such a great self-image.
