How I experience Connectedness®

I am certain the Universe conspires for our best. That doesn’t mean there are not difficulties and hardships. It means that in the midst of turmoil, I find peace in knowing that I have something to teach or learn. I recognize that the turmoil may not end until I have learned or taught the lesson that is in front of me, even if it takes more than one lifetime.

This is not a fatalistic view. I must take action. Like the TV show “Quantum Leap” or the movie “Groundhog Day”, I make sense of my world as a place to learn life lessons…to fix or teach or learn until I am ready for the next thing. I can review my life and understand today and I can forecast out the connections and see my direction.

My top ten talent themes are grouped in strategy and people. The interplay of Connectedness® and Strategic® means I see connections of people and ideas. I have always been a connector. I file away conversations I have with people about their ideas and activities, and later on I will suggest that two people contact each other because they have mutual or complementary interests.
Connectedness® has also given me a sixth sense about the future. I can see situations play out in my mind, understanding from the clutter what will work and what will likely fail. That probably makes me a little more risk averse than other people.

Early in my life I moved often as my dad finished his career in the Navy and began a life in religious ministry. I gained and lost relationships with people on a regular basis. That has continued through my adult life. Even though I am not in close proximity, or close personal relationship with people, I am still connected to them by the way they have touched my life and the way I have connected with them.

There have been times in my professional career when I tried to push my career in a different direction. As I finished my undergraduate work, I was encouraged by the Dean of the School of Education to continue into a Masters degree and beyond. I had returned to finish my undergraduate degree later in life and after I had a dozen or so years in technology. When I started my career I had not needed a degree, and as my career changed, I realized that not having a degree would hold me back. There is an entire field of educational research and professional activity around adults returning to school and gaining credit for life experiences. A job opening at the University I attended related to adult learners became available and I applied. This job would have changed the course of my life from IT technology to education. I was ready to change. I was excited about the interview. I did not get the job. I had been eager to walk through a door and that door had closed. In the next few years I pushed in other directions that, seemed to me, lead to more purposeful work. None of them worked out. I went through a period of turmoil; a period of not knowing followed. 

I learned to embrace not knowing. I learned to be still and understand that I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. I learned to say yes to what was in front of me. I am still learning to step into my power and show up for what the Universe has in store for me.

Note: The 34 CliftonStrengths® Theme names are Trademarks of Gallup, Inc.

The non-Gallup information you are receiving has not been approved and is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup in any way. Opinions, views and interpretations of CliftonStrengths® or BP10® results are solely the beliefs of David Jackson.