Are you a hat person?  That is, you enjoy them and wear them well. No?

Then maybe you tan well?  Or you’re funny. Can you paint? Do you have the greenest thumb on the block?

Each of us has natural gifts. Some attributes like hat-wearing, tanning well, or being funny just are, without our doing much of anything.

Other things just come more easily to us than they do to others.  Think: Math, gardening, sports, music, or languages. Yes, you’ve got to put the time in…but it’s usually less time, and besides, you really enjoy it, so it’s not drudgey.

Then there are the things that we just can’t make happen, no matter how much we want it, or how hard we try.

While there are always exceptions, most people I know don’t consider themselves better people because they can grow killer tomatoes; do math, ice skate, tan, or, yes, even wear hats with aplomb.

And more importantly, the happiest people I know don’t think less of themselves if they freckle, never got the whole Harry Potter thing, can’t change their own oil, or write code.

35 years ago, Dan Gookin wrote a book that spawned one of the longest-running, most beloved and trusted franchises in the publishing industry. But it almost didn’t happen.

DOS for Dummies was a user-friendly intro to the brand-new DOS technology. Written in plain language and with a bit of whimsey, Dan explained and demystified this first tech wave.

As the story goes, his publisher loved the book, hated the title. It was a real sticking point: the publisher felt buyers would pass, feeling they were being made fun of. Dan persisted, explaining the whole point was to reach people who were ok knowing what they didn’t know, but wanted to learn quickly, so they could get on with their lives. That was 2500 unique titles with combined sales of over 200 million books ago.

I tell this story to clients who berate themselves for not being able to pick the right paint colors or who struggle with how to set up a room.

Me? I freckle, but can cook intuitively.  Math comes easily, ice skating not so much. I yell at my computer so it works better, and I can never keep track of which planets revolve around which. And I am, most definitely not a hat person. But I am really good at color coordination and space planning. And I’m ok with it all.

Life is too short.  There’s a lot to know about our world.

Celebrate your gifts. Stay curious. Be open to opportunity, and keep learning. Fearlessly assess the speedbumps. Change what you can;  accept the rest, and ask for help if it’s really important.