Tom Rath’s book Strengths Finder 2.0 revealed my top five strengths. My number four strength is connectedness. Simply put, people with the connectedness strength believe that things happen for a reason. I am certain of this.
Connectedness people believe that individuals are part of something larger than themselves. We are all individuals with free will, but we are connected to a larger spirit or life force. I, too, believe this with my heart and soul.
Of my top five strengths, connectedness was the most surprising strength. Here’s why.
I wasn’t surprised in the sense that I learned this about myself … I’ve always known this. I always believed it. I’ve been living life with this awareness and understanding.
What surprised me was I never considered it a strength.
I’m guessing that I considered a strength as something you could do … I didn’t think of a strength as a belief.
I’ll credit my mother and my Catholic/Christian upbringing for instilling the following beliefs:
- Things happen for a reason.
- You’ll understand the reason for this in the future.
- Behind every cloud, there is a rainbow.
- It will all work out in the end.
- You’ll be paid back in spades.
- Have faith.
In more recent years, I’ve been learning about psychic energy, mysticism, and karma. Writers such as Zukav, Csikszentmihalyi, Fritz, Redfield, Adrienne, and Cohen have all increased my understanding of connected minds and have influenced my thinking. I like these philosophies because they are more forward-thinking and positive. The organized religious philosophies seem based more on explaining the past and personal hardships.
Again, I’ve always known this about myself. I just never considered it a strength.
Knowing connectedness as a strength, I now better understand and accept the following responsibilities and opportunities to influence.
- Being considerate, caring, and accepting
- Building bridges between people
- Encourage a purpose in others
- Being conscious of potential harm to others and to the world my actions could bring
- Resisting all exploitative actions
- Maintaining my faith in the face of life’s mysteries
Of my five top five strengths, being a connectedness was the single strength that was least known, understood, and consciously utilized as a strength.
But since we’re all connected, it now makes perfect sense that I learned this from this book. It was my destiny. It happened for a reason.
As a connectedness, I say, “Connected is as the connected world does!
Next Blog Title: Responsibility
Next Blog Date: February 7, 2013