I have the gift of confusion!

All of us have been given gifts and abilities by our Creator. The gifts and abilities that we have help us not only in our personal life, but also benefit the lives of other people as we interact with them on a daily basis.

It has taken me a long, long time to figure out exactly what my gift is. I am so excited to be able to finally tell you that it is very clear to me that I have the gift of confusion! I want to be quick to explain what I mean. I am not saying that I have the gift of confusing other people. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fanatic about being clear and simple in everything that I do. When I say that I have the gift of confusion, I mean that I have the gift of being confused myself. I get so confused by almost everything in my life, that it is almost comical.

When someone explains something to me, it just sounds like a bunch of jumbled up words in my head. When I read something on paper, it often leaves me feeling confused and frustrated. If I try to follow written instructions while trying to assemble something, I feel helpless and lost. This is not something that just started recently. I have had this gift all of my life.

As a young boy in school, the simplest instruction would feel totally foreign to me yet everyone else seemed able to quickly understand. I would try to listen as hard as I could but there was often a phrase or word within a sentence that threw me off a little bit and caused me to be confused. When I was in military school, I remember trying to learn how to read a compass and follow a map. I got so lost they had to send out people to find me!

Why am I telling you this deep, dark secret that has been in my life for so many years? To give you hope! I have come to view this as one of the most valuable gifts that I possess. You see, when I am confused about something, I am not afraid to raise my hand and ask a question. I am not afraid to tell someone that I am a little confused and need further clarification. I cannot tell you how many times a person has come up to me and said, “Thank you so much for asking that question. I was confused too but I was afraid to say anything.”

I have discovered that there are many terms and words that I do not understand and if I do not take the time to ask about them, it will not be long before I am in trouble. For instance, there are often words that are new to me in the field of business or banking or in my dealings with the Secretary of State or IRS. It is important to understand what those words mean so that I can comply and follow directions as closely as possible.

It goes without saying that none of us can be an expert on everything. Therefore, it is imperative that we ask for help and guidance from those who understand the details better than we do.

It seems that I am on the phone with my attorney or my accountant almost every week asking for clarity about something. They have been such a blessing to help me understand what particular words mean.

I honestly believe that I am a smarter, more efficient person today because of the fact that I have been willing to accept and receive my gift of confusion. There have been countless times that the entire direction of my life or a project I was working on changed because I asked one question to gain a little bit of clarification.

At Personality Insights each team member has equal authority to raise a hand and say, “STOP.” That simply means, “I am confused. Before we move ahead, I need to take the time to get clarification so that I do not become the cog in the wheel that messes up the whole project.” What a great joy it is to work with people who are open, honest, and willing enough to do that!

Of all the Tips I have ever written, I honestly believe this may be one of the top three most important. I refuse to live my life in confusion. God is not the author of confusion and most people do not mean to be confused either.

I would not be a bit surprised if many of you reading this have the same gift I have..the gift of being confused by words, phrases, sentences, directions or information that is new to you. Please, please, please take the time to be brave and bold enough to smile and say, “I am so sorry, but there is a little bit of this situation that is not entirely clear to me and I would like to ask a couple of questions for clarification.” If you are willing to do that, you will see that people are very gracious and will go out of their way to help you. You will be far less frustrated when the issues are cleared up in your mind and you will be able to move ahead with a feeling of total freedom, clarity and success.

This information is provided in congruence with Personality Insights USA.