Free Facing the Music And Living To Talk About It by Nick Carter Page A

just a moment of happiness or a few laughs. I’m talking about building a life around whatever gift, talent or strength you have that excites you and makes you feel valued and connected to the world around you.
    Once you’ve accepted that you are worthy of a better life and you have worked to identify and change the harmful behavioral patterns and self-sabotaging thinking that may have held you back in the past, it’s time to decide what your strengths are. Like many people, I came from a troubled family without a lot of resources, but after I dedicated myself to a career in music, my life took on incredible momentum. Making it as a singer wasn’t as easy as it might have looked from the outside and I have to work every day at staying sharp, but I am so grateful for my career. Music not only saved my life, it gave me a life.
    MUSIC NOT ONLY SAVED MY LIFE , IT GAVE ME A LIFE.
    Now, what about you? What are your strengths, talents, gifts, and passions? What can you build your life around? There are a few telltale signs to look for if you haven’t yet identified a strength. Here are just a few:
        1.  What are you drawn to time and again? Is there something you want to do during every spare minute?
        2.  What fills your bucket? Is there some activity that is so rewarding and fulfilling for you that you never get tired of engaging in it; in fact, is it something you’d even do for free just because it makes you happy? (Pretending for a minute, of course, that you didn’t have bills to pay or the standard requirements for food, shelter and clothing).
        3.  What comes easily for you? Is there a school subject, art form, craft, sport, skill or trade that you picked up quickly and then seemed to improve upon every time you do it?
        4.  What makes you stand out from the crowd? Think of any time when a friend, teacher, coach or classmate has said, “You’re really good at this.” Or “I wish I could do that as well as you.”
    BUNDLE OF JOY
    I promise that you have certain skills, talents, interests, and gifts that will not be denied. They begin to make themselves known from your earliest days, so it’s just a matter of taking the time to look for and recognize them. We are all uniquely made with our own pre-packaged gifts waiting to be unwrapped. If you’ve ever shopped for a computer, you know that most companies offer basic models with various bundles of special features depending on your needs and interests. Some are geared to gamers like me who like to play interactive video games on their computers. Others come with sophisticated software designed for photographers, graphic artists, or financial planners.
    You and I come custom-equipped in much the same way. They don’t call babies bundles of joy for nothing. My bundle was the musical performance package. Yours may be the tech geek package, the artist package, the engineer package or the teacher package.
    I encourage you to identify and develop your strengths so your weaknesses become irrelevant. Look at me. I was not a good student. My energy levels were so high that I had trouble focusing on subjects like reading, math and social studies. I was very good at daydreaming. Unfortunately they didn’t grade me on that. Maybe I had attention deficit disorder that was never diagnosed. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I could have studied math 24 hours a day for 365 days a year and I probably never would have done better than a C in that class. Even more important, I did not enjoy math. I never looked forward to it and I never felt good about myself while doing it—or trying to do it. A little parental encouragement would have helped, but I didn’t get much of that. If I’d ask things like, “Dad do you think I could be a scientist?” the answer was likely to be, “Yeah, whatever kid.”
    You may have to reach down deep inside yourself and become your own source of encouragement and motivation, which is not ideal, but it