Oh man, there are a lot of things I could list here. There are so many skills a person could pursue…more than could ever fit into a single lifetime!
I’ll pick just a few, though. I’d like to:
- learn to speak Spanish (am currently very elementary)
- do an unassisted chin-up (currently, I still need bands)
- get better at making videos
- improve my photography
Of course, I also want to go back to school to become a nurse, but that’s not really nurturing a skill so much as it is learning a new one!
And then there are soft skills I’d like to nurture, like the ability to look at accusations more objectively.
We just learned the word “gauchitos” the other day — clothespins — which my (fluent) sister tells me is based on “gaucho” — so mini cowboys pinching the clothes to the line. lol.
All my kids have kids in their classes whose first language is Spanish and I think it would be good community building to learn to converse.
But really, a skill I would like to build is shingling. We need so many shingles around here.
Have you tried Duolingo? I used it for a time to learn a little French but ended up giving up on it because of lack of drive or time (plus I’m also not one with a great grasp of English.) I know a language instructor who uses it for keeping her skills up.
As for me, I wish I was a better planner and organizer. I like when things are planned and organized but I have a hard time getting a plan in place.
Ooh…. I think I’d like to grow in Kristen’s consistency skill! I always have too much on my plate and things tend to go in spurts and fits instead of me being super-consistent at everything.
Oh so many! I think the main thing that I need to grow is self-care. I am very happy to take care of everyone else to the detriment of me. I need to go on more walks, clean my own room, take longer showers, eat more veggies, read more, pray more, stretch more, this list could go on.
I would like to nurture my technology skills, specifically my use of my phone and iPad. I got a new iPad for Christmas and while I am fine with the basics (email, blogs, facebook, weather, etc.) there is so much more that could be done on it that I need to learn. Same with my phone….that was new in March and I still have not figured it all out.
It sounds like you need a smart young Gen-Z friend to help you with your technology!
Working with electricity. I am afraid of it so whenever there is a problem with the garage door opener or a plug going out or the garbage disposal quitting, and so on, I have to depend on my colorblind husband who is a menace unless I am standing there to make sure he knows what the colors of the wires are. I think I mentioned once that I saw a guy at the swimming pool, before and then much later after he had had a run in with electricity. He lost body parts and had a huge scar. I already was leery about electricity but that really reinforced my fears.
Oh I agree. I hate electrical repairs. I’ve done my own tiling all by myself on my backsplash in my kitchen, helped build a check coop, big projects! But I’m a whimper with electricity!
I was considering auditing a Spanish class at the first university I worked at but we moved before I did. It was a very inexpensive way to take the class.
I have two skills I’d like to nurture: listening and mending. I love reading about all of the things you mend, Kristen! I’d really like to be able to cut off the feet of footie pajamas and sew a hem on the bottom. (Perhaps this crosses over into altering more than mending.) My 6yo has some footie jammies that are still in excellent condition except for the holes in the feet. It seems like such a waste to throw them away, so I’d like to fix them. My mending skills are super basic at this point, though.
A reader the other day commented that she was a good listener… Boy, I wish I could say this about myself but I don’t think I can. It’s something I’ve tried to be more aware of over the past year, but there’s plenty of room for growth.
I need to grow in that too. It is so, so easy to listen-to-prepare-a-response than to listen-just-to-understand.
I have two that I’m working on this year; embroidery & writing. I’m doing a weekly stitch with a sewing group & sharing some weekly writings with a group led prompt.
I’m trying to improve my watercolor skills! I still a tank beginner, but I’m learning and improving every time I pick up a brush.
I want to get better at baking bread, too. Practice practice practice!
I’m a RANK beginner – good grief. Darned autocorrect!
I want to grow in my ability to let things go, relax, do self-care, choose to read books more, be less judgmental, be less controlling…the list goes on. I’m always working on improving myself. That can be a good thing, but maybe I need to grow in my ability to just accept me and others as we are.