How often do you stop and pat yourself on the best for being simply the best? If you’re anything like me, the answer is not often enough.
The truth is that none of us gets as many compliments as we need and taking stock of our talents or accomplishments is one important way to lift ourselves up when we’re down and to remember that we’re awesome. As we approach the half-way mark of 2015, let’s all take a few minutes to reflect upon our unique talents. I’ll go first.
1. No one takes better care of my mom than I do. I am patient and kind, loving and forgiving. I advocate for her when no one else does and fight hard to keep her as independent as possible.
2. I have worked really hard on myself over the past three years, have changed things I didn’t like, and learned to build on my strengths. I’ve also found ways to reduce my anxiety so that panic attacks aren’t such a regular part of my week. I did this. No one else did the work; I did it. I’m not perfect yet, but no one is.
3. I am fantastic at planning road trips. Whether it’s taking a day trip in Northern Michigan, doing something I’ve never done before, or planning a trip on Route 66 from St. Louis to Chicago, I find ways to make the journey lots of fun. As a kid, we’d take road trips, but that was simply a means to the end of getting to Nana’s house in Florida. As an adult, I’ve learned that the journey is at least as important as the destination.
4. I’m a great negotiator. Whether it’s negotiating my condo purchase price or negotiating a venue for a work event, I am superb at getting a deal that both parties feel good about.
5. I make the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the world. They are the perfect combination of chewy and crunchy and feature a secret ingredient that makes them impossible to resist.
6. I make an amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I’ve mastered Mom and Nana’s recipes, making a feast fit for a king. Even less than a week after major surgery, I can still pull off a Christmas dinner that will have you crying tears of joy.
7. I make Nana’s Fruit Cake better than she did. I have a secret ingredient here that makes this better too.
8. I rock at bringing back family traditions like the Gardner Family Letter in an effort to bring our family closer. Seriously. The reviews are in. It’s getting 5-stars from everyone, except one person, but her ZERO star review is about her issues.
9. I rocked the last 26 months of new experiences. I’ve had 276 new* experiences since April 2013. I’ve played with Beluga Whales, gone on vacation alone, had a few scary medical procedures, totaled my car, met incredible people like Chris Kennedy, and generally pushed myself further outside my comfort zone than I could see a little more than two years ago. Just wait til you find out what I’ve got in store for the next 12 months. (*new experiences are defined as either completely new experiences or things I haven’t done in at least 10 years)
10. No one is better than I am at tearing me down. Want to verbally beat me up for screwing something up? Get in line. I’ve already done a much better job than you’ll ever do. I’m working on this one because I don’t like it and I need to learn to be nicer to me. Fortunately, this exercise helped.
11. No one would have been a better mom to Betsey and Ross or could be a better mom to Sammy and Zoey than I am. Seriously, it’s a crime that I never had kids. I am a great mom.
12. I am the best at having opinions. And I have an opinion on EVERYTHING. I’m working on sharing them less.
13. I sing in the car better than anyone else ever will. So you can just stop trying now.
14. Just like Chumbawamba, “I get knocked down But I get up again You’re never gonna keep me down.“ You can try your best to keep me down, but like a Weeble, I’m going to just pop back up.
15. I’m a rockstar at unhooking and fixing my bra in a gas station parking lot without giving anyone a free show. What’s ironic is that I’m unable to walk through a gas station parking lot without tripping and flashing everyone.
16. I believe in the good of others and their potential forever. Need a cheerleader? Just call. I’m your girl.
17. I’m humble. HAHAHAHA Just kidding.
This blog post has been brought to you by ChicagoNow‘s monthly Blogapalooz-Hour exercise. Blogapalooz-Hour, formerly known as Blogapalooza, is a monthly “get together” of the ChicagoNow bloggers where we gather around our individual computers at 9:00 p.m. on the last Wednesday of the month waiting for our fearless leader and overlord, Jimmy Greenfield, send us the topic we are to write about for the next 60 minutes. At 10:00 p.m., we hit publish. No. Matter. What.
Tonight’s email from Jimmy:
Hey all,
Welcome to ChicagoNow’s Blogapalooz-Hour!
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to publish a post in one hour. Here is tonight’s challenge:
“Without trying to be humble, write about something you’re really good at.” Whether it’s parenting, knowing how to use the CTA, talking backwards or even making a great peanut butter & jelly sandwich pick something that you know you’re good at. Consider a list as well if you can’t keep it to just one thing.
The point of this exercise is to do it no matter what so don’t bail. Be creative, enjoy the process. Use words, images or video. Whatever you need to tell your story.
Be aware of the time. No matter when you finish, please wait until 10 p.m. to publish. Above all, please respect the deadline.
You have one hour.
Go.
Do you enjoy reading Little Merry Sunshine? Of course you do.
All the cool kids sign up for the email to alert them of new posts and follow LMS on social media:
https://widget.bloglovin.com/widget/scripts/bl.js 
Enter your email address in the box below and clicking the “create subscription” button. This is a two-step process, so look for the confirmation email and click on the link. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
Jessica L Gardner 
Leave a comment