Competing gifts

I ran for senior class president when I was in high school.

And I lost.

Obviously, I was disappointed.

I spent some time avoiding the girl who had won.

It felt awkward.

Finally, I thought, “I really should just go congratulate her.”

I found her and told her I was happy for her.

I didn’t know how she would react, but I was so pleasantly surprised.

She hugged me and said she was sad we couldn’t both win.

This disarmed me from my awkwardness.

I told her that I knew she would be great in this position and that I was excited to support her.

I felt so good inside!

It felt great to transition from feeling jealous and inadequate to cheering her on in her strengths.

The Lord teaches: “To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.” (D&C 46:12)

Sometimes, it’s easy to see that all of our different gifts are complementary and bless other people’s lives.

I’m going to easily compliment the person who bakes amazing cookies, because I don’t enjoy baking.

But do we also show gratitude, love, and support for the people who have very similar gifts to ours?

It was harder for me to acknowledge my senior class president because she had a very similar skill set to mine.

But I have learned that building people up is much more fun than competing with them.

Let’s use our gifts to help everyone around us.

And let’s cheer other people on when they use their gifts, too!

In this way, we all can be profited thereby.

“As we lift others, we rise a little higher ourselves.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black