JFF: What Is Challenging for You and What Is Effortless?

Some of the most complex things I can do in my sleep. Simple stuff confuses me every time. That may seem like bragging but it isn't. It is actually pretty damn funny in practice.

An example, if you ask me what color the sky is I will try to ascertain the exact color. The five year old next to me will say blue. :-/

You don't even want to know how many times Theresa on here says, or maybe she meant_________. Oh, yeah, that could work too.

Hi galaway girl-

Almost EVERYTHING is somewhat difficult/challenging for me...

What has been EASY for me is to make it SEEM effortless...

***and I am only being slightly untruthful...really!***

best!
michele/cat

Confidence, spelling, and smiling are effortless for me, and I am super good with names and remembering details about people (not a stalker either TT! Haha). Super good with directions and finding places too. I have difficulty with math, art, being on time, not being a worrier, and being mad! And I'm a pack rat of sorts also, and horrible at saving money and paying bills too :)

Many artistic things come very easily and naturally to me, as well. I have never struggled to create.

One thing that does NOT come naturally (which could actually be considered creative in many ways) is cooking. I have to try very hard and follow recipes perfectly. I just don't have a natural gift. Even with the right tools and techniques, I just suck.

ETA: Haha!! I totally meant artistic, not arthritic!! Face-palm!

Hey! For people who can't smile / look dour/ etc ... Have you been checked for myasthenia gravis? Its an interruption in the nerves to muscles. Can be in any area, but one of the most common expressions is in the face. Leading to inability of, or extreme difficulty in...smiling.

________
Impossible : Paying bills

I used to have an accountant (single days) who paid for herself in saving me overdraft & reconnect fees. I had plenty of money, back when, but I operate in a time warp. Then my husband paid our bulls for 11 years. I'm recently divorced, tens of thousand in debt (my ex was court ordered to pay utilities/mortgage during divorce, & didn't), so I can't afford (yet!) to hire another accountant. Instead Im juggling bills & shutoff notices as best I can. I can't WAIT to hire an accountant again. I HATE this. I'm bad at it to begin with, and being 6-12mo behind on EVERYTHING means Im so up the creek already I don't know if I'll ever get dug out. No credit card debt. "Just" utilities & mortgage.

Good At:

Synthesizing dispirit information to turn into a working whole. Whether that's deescalating / bringing order out of chaos / diagnostics / etc. I do my best work walking into an uncontrolled situation and restoring order. Whether thats triage in the ER or in the field, teaching a room of kids, diffusing a conflict with armed men... I make pieces fit together. Its all about finding out what people need. I just do it fast. And know when to shout to get them excited, and when to be mellow to chill them out. And when being mellow will get them all worked up, and shouting will calm them down. I'm really really good at first response. I have great instincts in traumatic situations, and a crazy accurate emotional barometer.

(Aside: The reason I fell for my exhusband is that my emotional barometer didn't "work" on him. He was always surprising me. Super rare. Which was delightful in the beginning. Come to find, that's because he's a sociopath.)

Challenging: on the 'easy for everyone else' end of things-- I am fashion impaired. I think half the stuff out at the shops is just plain ugly or ridiculous, thus, I am destined to a future of mostly 'classic' clothes. That said, unless it's jeans and a hoodie or sweater, I am not the best at dressing myself. I've actually considered having one of my fashionista friends go shopping with me to give me some ideas, and I've started looking things up online to find which styles will be most flattering. Slow progress, but progress indeed!

Personal challenge: patience. Still learning-- and often very impatient with myself, too, for not having as much patience with my family as I'd like. (Did it pretty well as a preschool teacher, though. Don't know why...)

(Like JB-- unaesthetic as hell. You will only see me running if I'm trying to avert a disaster.)

Easy: I have a knack for being able to provide very simple explanations to kids. I can break down more complex concepts or ideas and keep them extremely easy to understand. (Except for why I don't have as much patience as I would like... )

Great question!

My perennial challenge is weight loss and fitness. Ridiculous amount of effort for very little by way of results. And I'm absurdly un-athletic. Ran the first mile of my life when I was 25 (and didn't run a mile again for another 9 years LOL). I also can't sing, despite a very, very strong desire to do so.

I always did well in school and learning new things still comes easily for me, so I can catch on to complex messes at work and sort them out, or decipher a programming language I don't normally work in, pretty quickly. I also used to be very into visual arts (drawing, painting, sculpture) and that translates into baking, cake decorating, home improvement and crafty things like arranging flowers.

Challenging for me/easy for others: Looking like I bathed. Seriously, I always look dirty, no matter how clean I am. I have no idea why. I stopped going for "glamorous" years ago, and am THRILLED if I achieve "clean." It's been so much worse since I got fat too - it's bad enough to look thin and pretty and dirty, but chubby and dirty is not a good combo if you want people to treat you well!

Easy for me/challenging for others: Predicting the future based on the past. Maybe I should sit my dirty-looking self in a cave and pretend to be a prophet! (kidding)

Oh, the smile thing. I naturally have a face that isn't super smiley. Sometimes I forget this is something that is an issue for me because obviously I don't have a mirror in front of my face all the time and I don't feel particularly unhappy. But I was just told YESTERDAY, "You should smile more." Uh, ok.

Another thing I find so difficult is being neat. I hope I'm not dirty, but I'm naturally a bit of a slob and a packrat. Bad combination.

One thing I'm really good at that most people aren't is remembering names. It's to a point that I think it freaks people out that I remember who they are. I swear I'm not stalking you. I'm just good at names.

Hard for me - math - any math but especially word problems. The only thing I can do in my head is figure out how much something is on sale for if it has a % off LOL

Easy for me - putting things together and figuring out how things work. I am always the one to do the assembling here.

my challenge is talking, lol! I'm a big introvert and while I do love being around other people, I'm just more of a listener and people take that the wrong way and think I'm akward, rude or just weird. I'm not any of those, I'm just a quiet person. I actually do better around loud and outgoing people because it kind of brings me out of my shell a bit and when I'm around another quiet person, there is a lot of akward silence.

taking pictures comes naturally for me. I am a professional photographer and I just love everything about photography. It's just so natural for me to be behind the camera. Maybe I also love it so much because I can hide behind the camera and just be myself and not have to worry so much about talking, lol!

challenging: interior decorating. I see things I like and ways I want to decorate our home, but I just can't re-create it. We had our house built 4+ years ago and our master bedroom is still white walls with nothing on them b/c I don't even know where to start.

effortless: talking to people. I am not shy and can chit-chat with anyone. My husband loves that we can go to a function for his work/with his buddies or whatever and he knows he doesn't have to stay by my side the entire time b/c I'll visit with everyone.

OMG, I am so glad that you admitted to not having a happy face. My mom and I are both cursed with a dour look, even if on the inside we're elated. The other day my son said to me, "Mom, why do you always look angry when we watch tv?" I said, "Sorry, honey, that's just my face. I'm not angry though." It makes me sad that I don't have an approachable look, but I guess that it a small curse to have in life.

1 thing that comes easily to me - Singing amongst friends, family, or at church
1 thing that is challening to me - Singing to an audience. I'm fine with duets, quartets or chamber-style, but the solo terrifies me. I do it because I want to, but I am $**+ing bricks the entire time.

Challenging for me/effortless for others? Simple directions for assembly using drawings! Aaaaargh! Step by step written directions? No problem. "Figure A"? Forget it. My husband is like "giiiiive me that!" Every time.

Easy for me? Operating on a shoestring time schedule.
My goal? Zero "down time." I like getting to appointments exactly on time. Not early, not late. Usually because I know I can do A, B, C and D and arrive JUST on time. It's hard for me NOT to be doing 2, 3, or 4 things at once or in rapid succession. That pace, apparently, is not for everyone.

i'm giggling at your smiley thing! keep at it- studies show that just putting those smile muscles into action actually improves your mood (even if your face isn't showing it!)
many things come absurdly hard for me. time management is one. i'm one of those awful perpetually late people. i procrastinate insanely. in fact, i'm currently procrastinating on doing the barn by noodling around here on MP. i'm a technical idiot. i can't figure out how to edit word documents, or make the cordless mouse work when it fizzles on me, or make remotes do things, or do 95% of the stuff my smartphone would allow me to do, or fix anything, ever.
i'm ridiculously good at public speaking, which i know flusters most people. i'm very comfortable at the front of a classroom, or giving a talk to a big group, or running a ritual. i'm a great storyteller. i wish i could figure out a way to make money at it. i'm a very good tarot reader, which i suspect comes more from being a good listener than any sort of woo woo ability. and i'm really good with horses, although that's been more a learned skill than something innate.
fun question!
:) khairete
S.

You must be my twin, because I was going to say the exact same thing. I'm adopted...hm...wondering if you and I might honestly be related.

I can't smile on demand, nor do I...I don't laugh a lot, either. People often ask me what's wrong, when really I'm feeling on top.

And yes, anything artistic...I'm a professional artist and love doing crafts in my free time. Drawing, painting, sewing, crocheting, etc...

Seriously...where were you born? ;)

challenging: directions (giving and receiving) don't tell me go north because i can't find north or south or any of them for the life of me. now i have maps on iphone and i let the nice lady tell me where to go when i out in the address. she even warns me 0.5 mi ahead that a turn is coming up.
effortless: this is odd because i thought i was born without the cleaning gene but man i can make a house sparkle and clean and sanitized like no other.

Things which come easily for me are smiling, making small talk, public speaking, eating well, exercising, scheduling, organization, cleaning, being quick thinking, quick witted, decisive. I'm also a quick study. I forgive and forget.

Things which are difficult for me are long term memory, details of things which I was even deeply involved with are lost to me rather quickly. I don't have much patience or empathy.

I working on tolerance and compassion.

Love the question.
F. B.

Keeping my house clean (forget about organized). I just can't seem to stay on top of things. I was scrambling to find socks for the boys this morning so they could go to school and not freeze their little tootsie's.

We need to hire a maid ... I'm just too embarassed to let anyone see the house, so I feel like we'd have to clean up first :-)

Difficult: making phone calls to strangers, or even worse, talking to an answering machine (I usually hang up in a panic, unless I've written myself a script ahead of time). Also, making eye contact/greeting strangers or acquaintances. And goodbyes are right out-- I usually just disappear if I can get away with it.

Effortless: not much that I can think of. There are things that I'm very good at (mostly art and design related) but I can't pretend that they aren't hard work, no matter how enjoyable.

Hard for me: School. I have been blessed with a very quick and clever mind but school was very difficult for me. I just couldn't retain anything in classroom situations.

Easy: Being a Mommy. As I mentioned above, I never managed college and just barely graduated high school. I felt like a failure in everything until I became a mom. I found my dream job and I was pretty darn good at it. Maybe I just got super lucky having easy going kiddos, but either way I'm happy and feel pretty secure in my ability to keep these little buggers alive until 18. :)

* I am fantastic at making a fool of myself, dancing in public, on stage, singing, anything that involves being silly in front of people.
* Parenting feels easy.
* Listening - no problem.

* Small talk - so challenging.
* Money management - not great, but I spend so little that I rely on being a miser instead of really putting forth the effort examine how I'm doing.
* Answering the phone. Is hate too strong a word?

Great Question! Good at or at least don't stink at: getting to the heart of a matter, separating intertwined information into its smallest parts. Logic. Developing solutions that will zero into the desired end product. I sound like a CEO looking for a job! Ha!

Which brings me to the hardest thing: paperwork, bureaucracy drives me crazy. Often, I refuse to play games and have not gotten raises because I refuse to do bosses paperwork for them. I am just that stubborn. If its a good worker, just pay them.

Challenging- keeping house organized. I swear I make things ten times as hard by putting stuff where it's not supposed to be. I have way to many junk drawers, hidden corners, and counter tops that are just meant to be used as a place to put things because it's just too much effort to put them two more feet away in the right place. I've always done this, and it's the one thing that drives my husband nuts! He loves me anyways, but it can get quite funny.

Another one - following a map. I am completely clueless when someone hands me a map and tells me to help them navigate..Seriously? Anytime I am forced to help figure out where to go, I end up with my eyes all crossed. Can't figure it out for the life of me.

Easy- handling other peoples problems, emotions/issues/baggage.Unless it is a family member( then forget it). Also, medical concerns,questions, issues. I am a walking medical dictionary. Having medical professionals in my family helps with this, but I have always been the go to person for medical advice.

One thing that I know should be easy, but is difficult for me is to make phone conversations. When I was in college or even the early years of my marriage, I used to beg someone else to call and order a pizza. Now I cringe whenever my daughter wants me to call one of her friends over to play. After a lot of practice I got good at making business calls, but personal calls still make my stomach turn.

Easy? Math is pretty easy for me, and I was always really good at school.

On the multiple intelleginces I score high on linguistic, naturalistic and interpersonal, but low on logic-mathematical, spatial and kinesthetic.