Day 8 :: Who are you?

I’m not much of a weekend blogger. I tend to believe that weekends are meant for books and walks outside and long chats over lukewarm chai. Not hanging out on the world wide web.

But this month, the only way we hit our 31 Days of Courage is to blog, well, 31 days. And believe it or not, I have a plan for every day, so I don’t want to miss!

I’m currently on the train from London to Edinburgh after such a sweet week with friends. It was sad to leave, for sure. But I also feel so full. I feel like my emotional bank account got about 49 deposits in the last six days. My friends are great.

So I head back to Edinburgh with joy. I needed my people for a bit, but now it’s back to my Scots, whom I also love, to live fully and love deeply for the next seven weeks.

As we talked about a few days ago, I think there are really three main things you need to remember in order to be brave.

  1. Who you are
  2. Who loves you
  3. The eternal impact you can make

And you know, this isn’t stuff you have to BECOME. This is who you already are. This is about knowing your areas of strengths and knowing that God made you the way you are on purpose.

[There’s deeper stuff here too, for those of us who are in Christ. There are truths about who you are in Christ that you should cling to, hold on to, and believe.]

But today I’m thinking more of the things that make you UNIQUELY you.

So let me introduce myself. That might help.

Hi. I’m Annie.

I am loud. I am a talker. I am a girl. I am a party starter. I am a friend. I am a daughter and a sister and cousin. I am funny. I am a crier. I am the kind of girl that overly emotes.

I am a sinner. I am a royal screwup. I am unworthy. I am a Christian.

I am a writer. [I differentiate that from being an “author”… I am an author, but for this list, an “author” is a profession. I am a writer meaning that I will write forever whether people pay me or not.]

According to the Enneagram test, I am a 7. Tried and true.

According to the Strength Finders test, my top strengths are positivity, maximizer, woo, arranger, and includer. [Meaning, I am a people person with a side of professional organization.]

I am absolutely completely Annie.

And I have learned to love me.

So I can say that truly, I love being Annie.

[If you’ve read my book, you know that hasn’t always been true. Not by any stretch. So this isn’t a prideful thing to say, it is a healed and redeemed thing to say.]

I haven’t always known these things. But as I’m aging [31 and 1/3, don’t ya know] I am learning that my personality trait combination is absolutely unique to me. Like you are absolutely uniquely you.

The better you know yourself, the more you can step out and be brave. I think I’ve found that the more I know about me, the more I know my strengths, and the more I am able to press into those places where I have the chance to be brave.

For example.

I know that one of my strengths is connecting with people.

My point of courage was when the opportunity arose to connect with Scottish university students.

The more you know who you are, the more opportunities to be brave come to the surface in your life. Also, you are able to identify the areas where you most likely won’t be called on to be courageous.

For example.

I know that I am NOT skilled in running.

So there is no point of courage for me when it comes to the Olympic trials.

See the difference?

As I continue to learn me, and the uniquely weird recipe of personality ingredients that are all mixed together in here, I am learning the paths of my life where courage will probably show itself.

The same is true for you, I think. Continue to figure out how God made you, remember that He made you on purpose, and look down those paths to see where courage is waiting to be encountered.

. . . . .

So…. who are you?

. . . . .

Congrats to Lauren M – commenter #14! She wins the print from Artsyville. Remember you all have a discount code for this whole month! [info in this post] Booyah.

. . . . .

Who I’m reading: Christy’s 31 Days of Culture Shock. For my life right now, this series is super relevant. Anyone else living outside the USA should probably check this puppy out.

Let's be friends!

Stay up to date with our weekly newsletter. It’s all things fun with Annie.
No spam we promise