What Is My Biggest Strength?
As I prepare myself to join the workforce once again in early 2022, I couldn’t help but think about the commonly asked question — What is your biggest strength?
In the last 2 years, I experienced three big life events. Life-changing events, rather!
I found love, married him and relocated from India to the US in 2019.
We were blessed with a beautiful baby during the height of the covid pandemic in 2020.
We moved to US’s friendly neighbour up North, Canada, to build a new life in 2021.
All these events required me to face challenges that I never thought were possible.
I transitioned from the life of a working professional to someone waiting for a legal work permit from their new country to the life of a new, first-time business owner. I taught myself how to build a website, design its content and find my voice on social media. I discovered that my writing resonated with people and that I could connect with them with what I wrote. I discovered wonderful vegan dishes to cook and bake. I inculcated a love for cars (influenced by my husband) and enthusiastically went to auto shows when I could. In another life, I would have preferred a book show over an auto show. I taught myself video editing and data viz tools. I contributed as a community volunteer by working for the Red Cross.
When my baby arrived, the husband and I worked as a team to raise him. We taught ourselves everything that we should know as first-time parents. It was hard. No help, no support. Like many other parents who struggled and burned out since the pandemic arrived, we did too. We silently divided our roles. We ploughed through one of the most enjoyable and difficult times of our lives. We became early risers. We started taking our baby out for long drives as soon as we were able to, sharing our love for exploring and travelling with him. No task was small for us. We did everything we could despite the exhaustion and frustration we were experiencing. We clicked pictures, a LOT of pictures. Now, when we look back, we only remember the happy times.
And then, an opportunity to move to another country arrived. We drove from Southern California to British Columbia. We had been preparing for a long journey the entire year. When the time came, we were ready. We did it! As the husband says, we always conquer the impossible.
Resilience — the ability to bounce back. That is my biggest strength.