Susan”s strength was not so difficult to find. She was an unusually observant person. She not only loved observing people, plants, and wildlife, she was exceptionally good at it. Moreover, all the time she had spent observing the behaviour of animals on her hikes, and her interest in observing people at work and during her lunch break had nurtured and sharpened this skill.

Uncovering this strength, the pieces of Susan”s puzzle finally locked together. Her passion was love of learning and imparting knowledge to others. She valued authenticity above all else. Susan would find her gift in a field that involved both learning and teaching, allowed her to authentically express who she was.

Susan researched potential careers and began to uncover various possibilities. Eventually, Susan would find herself embarking on a new career teaching high school science — a career that involved learning, as she returned to school for a master”s degree, and that called upon her skills in observation, particularly in the lab courses. And since Susan was her own boss in the classroom, she could express herself as she authentically was.

A long road still lay ahead of Susan before she could launch herself on that career. But in committing to her gift, she had taken the first critical step. She had released herself

from the stone of others” expectations and her own self-imposed limits. She was finally free to sculpt her authentic life. — Beliefnet.com (Concluded)