For me, that part has a couple of levels of meaning. On one level, it’s easy for me to list what I’m not. I’m not tall. I’m not thin. I’m not female. I could go on, but I think my point is made for one level. The other level, the deeper one, is the part that I think is harder for most of us to think about. Most of us don’t want to think about, or admit, our limitations. If we aren’t willing to look at what we are not, how can we figure out what we are or what we can be?
I’m not ever the smartest person in the room. I’m not social. I’m not always friendly. I’m not a talker in the morning. I know these things about myself, and I can admit it out loud. Naming the things that I am not clears the way for me to really think about what I got and who I am. If we never think about, and are honest about, what we are not, then I don’t know how we get to the other two parts.
Without facing what we lack, how can we truly take measure of what we really have? How can we make peace with who we truly are? How can we grow if the only way we have of looking at ourselves is through rose-colored glasses that show all of the high points of our personality and our life? Knowing ourselves, through and through, is the best way I can think of to grow as a person.