Toot Your Own Horn Time

[image error]Women are notoriously bad about hiding their lights under bushels. So says a writer friend who recently reached a milestone in her career by selling a series in a different romance genre. She had to work really hard at making that success happen, but when it came time to share her good news with her local RWA chapter, she was sheepish about it. Then she decided it was silly to feel awkward about such a wonderful accomplishment.

I have another friend who's vastly overweight. Yesterday she worked out with a personal trainer for the first time in her life, only 30 minutes, but it's a great start. So today's blog is dedicated to bringing out lights from under bushels.

There are a lot of things I'm no good at. Make that hopeless. I can't read a note of music, despite having several years of piano lessons as a kid and a highly musical mom and grandmom. I couldn't draw anything to save my life. Nor could I sell anything, even though I greatly admire some friends of mine who could sell ice to Eskimos, as the saying goes.

[image error]But I can claim a few talents. I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue. I could probably still tap dance if someone put a gun to my head. I used to be pretty good at math, although recently I saw one of my old [image error]college notebooks on advanced structures/differential equations and I swear I couldn't tell the answers from the questions. Last week, however, my young hunter mare was champion in 3 divisions at a week-long show — two with my trainer riding (which is not that unusual) and one with me riding (which is). I'm really proud of that accomplishment, in part because I've worked so hard at learning the ins and outs of jumping hunters.

[image error]So what lights can you share with your fellow Goddesses? Any recent accomplishments or talents you're proud of, even one as weird as having a cherry-tying tongue? Some skills you wish you had but have to work hard just to master the basics?