Last week we talked with Life Coach and author Laurie Wallin about her new book, Why Your Weirdness is Wonderful. If you missed her interview, you can read it HERE.

On the outside it probably looks like I’m pretty normal, whatever that is. But over my forty-one years I’ve certainly dealt with some insecurities about my own quirks/weirdness/the way I’m “wired” and have gone to great links to try and “fit in” or be like someone else. I agree with Laurie when she says we can spend “a lot of precious energy neglecting our own unique design in favor of trying to behave like someone else we believe is making a bigger difference.”

I’m good at list-making and brain-storming so here’s where I think some of my  “weirdness” and feelings of not quite fitting in stem from:

• I’m a writer. Not everyone will get this and that’s precisely why it’s on the list. I have always loved to write but it’s at times been frustrating not being able to communicate my thought processes and be understood by those around me who aren’t writers (or who don’t love words or share passion for creating sentences or get giddy over time with their thesaurus or have a stack notebooks and pens beside their bed or subscribe to the dictionary.com Word of the Day).
• I’m a dreamer with creativity and imagination. This means I can wake up on any given day with inspiration to paint or sew or spread glitter over hand made cards or cut word art from magazines and make a collage. My husband doesn’t understand all of this and he certainly doesn’t understand the clutter and boxes of craft supplies that come with it. I see beauty and potential in most everything but cutting pockets out of old blue jeans for future projects or saving all my glass candle jars for Snowman Soup gifts may seem odd to others.
• I have a sanguine personality. With this comes its own varied list of “good” and “bad” quirks. Aside from being the social butterfly I also need my alone time to dream and get refreshed and make bulleted lists of future projects that may or may not ever get finished.
• I have a tendency to do too much, commit too much, raise my hand too soon, volunteer too quickly. This is something God has been working on in me for many years now and I have actually made progress (yay!).
• I am an excited, passionate starter but not so great finisher (without great effort and focus). I get bored and distracted very easily.
• I’m an optimist and seer of good in almost everything and everyone. And I use smiley faces and exclamation marks way too much!! This is something that surely gets on other people’s nerves or makes me look weird (crazy) and can stand to be toned down a notch. But it also shows my passion and love of making people smile.

(I could go on and on but I’ll stop there.)

Each of these things have “good” and “bad” about them or, as Laurie says in her book, “a life side” and “a dark side.” She encourages us to ask God:

• For what purpose did you make me this way?
• How do you reveal these attributes – these tendencies that seem weak in me – in a holy-grace-filled way?

In Why Your Weirdness is Wonderful Laurie reaffirms to us God’s plan in purposely designing and creating every little detail about our individuality. She says:

• “Everything about you has something to do with your purpose.”
• “God doesn’t waste anything in us or our lives. Not one thing.”
• “The unique tendencies in you and me are meant to shine in a hue all their own, and in so doing, bring a little more clarity to the full-color beauty of the God we reveal to the world.” (<<——Don’t you LOVE that?)

So many times we ask God to change us. Make us good at this or better at that or more like her or help us to stop being so whatever. But . . .

• “What might be possible in your family, community – maybe even the world – because of those tendencies? What could God do with your intense focus, your need for order, your ability to talk for hours, your way of finding the bright side when nobody else thinks there is one? How might people’s lives change for the better in the presence of your stubborn insistence on excellence, your bigger-than-life dreams, or your empathy for people whom others may try to ignore? When we not only see the value of our quirks but also open our hearts to dream a little about why they matter in the world, the gift God’s given becomes tangible and truly magnificent.”

Laurie also puts on her Life Coach hat and gives us keys on how to discover our strengths, both visible and hidden.  She encourages us to find value in our strengths and quirks – even the ones we don’t like.

• “By intentionally investing in more of what you naturally do well, you invite more enthusiasm, efficiency, and energy into your life.”
• “Confidence is knowing what you’re here for, what you’re good at, and what God wants to do with the whole package. It’s recognizing and talking care of that aspect of your life.”

Did you get that? The whole package. Every part of me. Every part of you.

“For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13).

“. . .before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart” (Jeremiah 1:4-5).

Thank you, Laurie, for investing in ME by sharing your words and gifts. I’m walking away excited to discover how God wants to use every part of me for His purposes!

You can visit Laurie and check out more about the book at http://bit.ly/WeirdWonderful, or stop by her facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/LivingPowerLifeCoaching.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on your own copy of Why Your Weirdness is Wonderful you can find it on AMAZON.

ANNOUNCEMENT!! The winner of last week’s GIVEAWAY is Tracy! Congratulations! Email me your address, please ma’am!

Guess what?? We have another GIVEAWAY! Laurie has so generously offered to gift another autographed book to one of YOU! Leave a comment to enter. You can also get an extra entry for sharing this post via Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media site. Just leave an extra comment letting me know you did and paste the link so we can all see! Giveaway ends Friday, April 4th at midnight.

“What if who you are right now is exactly who God meant you to be? What if the weirdest, most annoying things about you are actually—for a purpose?” ~Laurie Wallin (Respond to this thought/question in the comment section by Friday, March 28th at midnight for a chance to win an autographed copy of Laurie’s new book, Why Your Weirdness Is Wonderful: Embrace Your Quirks and Live Your Strengths)

Today, I’d like to introduce you to my beautiful friend, Laurie.

Laurie Wallin is a Christian speaker and certified Life Coach who loves helping people find joy and confidence by letting go of energy drainers and using their God-inspired strengths. Laurie, her husband and their four daughters make their home in San Diego.

And I’d also like to let you know about her book that came out just THIS WEEK! (Congratulations, Laurie!! I am so excited for you!)

(You can read more about it and pick up a copy for yourself right here —> AMAZON)

Let’s sit down with Laurie and ask her a few questions.

When did the idea that our individual quirks–those personal weirdnesses that drive us crazy sometimes–are part of who God created us to be?

The pivotal moment was while reading a colleague’s blog post. She shared how frustrated she was with her tendency to overthink things, and how she prayed God would make her different. I couldn’t put a finger on it at the time, but that got under my skin. I was mad! Not at her, but at the situation. . . that clearly gifted people spent so much time lamenting how they are. And how easy a strategy that would be for Satan to use to keep us distracted from living well. If we’re fighting who we are most of the time, we’re missing out on the reflection of God’s image that is trying to show through us. I went back and commented on this post, asking, simply, what if God made you that way because something about that tendency reflects something about Him, rather than it being a flaw? We went back and forth about the idea for a few comments, and ultimately, she said, “You need to write a post about this.” I did, it went viral, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Why do you think it’s important for women to see their weirdness as wonderful?

Women, in particular, have this fog of expectation clouding our view of ourselves and each other. The more I studied personal strengths, the more I noticed that 1) the things that annoy me in other people are them living their strengths and either me not appreciating them in the situation, or them not living them in a loving way; and 2) the things that annoyed me about myself suffered from the same two issues. So I started asking myself “What strength is she trying to live right now?” when I sensed jealousy or frustration or judgment creeping up with a friend. You know what happened? Where I used to feel insecure, I started noticing a desire to see the good in others and celebrating—affirming—the God-glimpses I saw in them. As a woman, to be able to feel secure in the face of others is a HUGE change to what we often experience. It makes us allies, supporters of each other, champions of what God’s doing in each other’s lives, instead of defenders of what we think is insufficient in ourselves.

In the book you talk about the dark sides and positive sides of our quirks. Could you give a few examples for readers?

As a Star Wars fan, I’ve always related to the whole Dark Side, Light Side (or, as I call it in the book, Life Side) idea. God invests tendencies in us, and we either love Him and others with them (reveal their Life Sides) or we live from fear (Dark Sides). The most common struggle strengths I hear about from people are tendencies to overthink things, be too sensitive, worry too much, argue too much, or be controlling. There are a lot of possible strengths hiding in these Dark Sides, and maybe they come from different strengths in different situations. For example, overthinking can be the Dark Side of being analytical, an achiever, someone who is contextual and sees connections between anything done or said now, and what it will effect. Being overly sensitive can be the Dark Side of empathetic, compassionate, or spiritually discerning individuals. Worrying too much is the fear-driven Dark Side of many prayer warriors I know. It’s not an exact science, but the important thing is to allow the question—to stop fighting who we are long enough to let God show us what is possible in us right then.

How can women embrace their weirdness? Where should they start?

First, we have to decide to suspend judgment about our natural tendencies. This one trips a lot of people up. They’re scared that if they do that, they’re dropping their moral standards. But that’s not what I’m saying. I’m asking people to stop assuming they understand God’s design in the ways they’ve always thought, acted and reacted in life. His thoughts are higher than ours, after all, right? So step one is to notice when we’re making ourselves feel bad about some way we are, like when we use negative words to describe ourselves (overthinker, worry wart, impatient, lazy. . .) and stop right then to chat with God about it. To say, “What natural desire or strength of mine is wanting to come out right now? How would YOU reveal that trait, God?” Then, let God tell you what He thinks. And keep eyes open to see His answers to the questions unfold in life and relationships.

How do you suggest women maximize their quirks to build God’s kingdom?

The more we listen to what God meant when He designed us the way He did—quirks and all—the more we let God reveal His heart for the world around us. The more we’re attuned to the unique ways God designed us to think, communicate, plan, care and relate with others, the more people are drawn to Him, and the kingdom grows.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

I certainly hope you’ll grab a copy of my book and allow me to walk this road with you, but whether you buy my book or not, you owe it to yourself (and your spouse, kids, friends and community!) to learn more about your strengths. Whether it’s Gallup’s StrengthsFinder program, the Myers-Briggs assessment, or Gary Chapman’s Love Languages assessment. . . find out who God designed when He made you. Because if you’re not being all God designed you to be, there’s a hole in the world—a missing piece in our view of God’s nature—that nobody else can or will ever fill.

Thank you for being here with us today, Laurie!

And remember, friends, if you’d like to visit with Laurie and check out more about the book you can do that HERE or stop by her facebook page —-> Living Power Life Coaching

Don’t forget! To be entered in our giveaway for a chance to win an autographed copy of Laurie’s book, leave a comment by Friday, March 28th at midnight in response to the thought/question at the top of this post! Winner will be announced next Sunday

Come back next Sunday for another giveaway and my review of Why Your Weirdness Is Wonderful!