Empowerment Advocate with Cosmos Parris

Sometimes we think our experiences are too ordinary to share.

Yet one memory can contain a lesson.

One lesson can spark a conversation.

And one conversation can help someone see their own situation differently.

You do not always need more content.

Sometimes you simply need to look at one experience with fresh eyes.

What is one story from your life that still has something to teach?

Too often, we dismiss parts of ourselves because they feel too familiar.

We assume that if something comes naturally to us, it cannot be important.

Years ago, while visiting home from overseas, an older friend asked me a question that stayed with me:

"Are you still as curious?"

At first, I was surprised.

Then he explained that he did not mean curiosity in the sense of minding people's business. He meant that I had always wanted to know why.

Why people think the way they do.

Why situations unfold the way they do.

Why do some lessons stay with us for years?

For a while, I questioned whether I asked too many questions.

Later, I realized that curiosity was not something I needed to fix.

It was part of how I learned, connected, and understood the world.

Sometimes the qualities that shape our lives are so familiar that we hardly notice them.

Until someone reflects them back to us.

What is something about yourself that feels ordinary, but may actually be one of your strengths?