When you were at school, did you ever get a shiny gold star for a good piece of work?

I was at my company conference this weekend. It was an amazing two days – it always is – and my head is overflowing with the different training we had, the ideas we came up with in brain-storming sessions, the way the company is moving forward...

But then came the awards. Consultant after consultant came up to receive their star awards, not me. Three of the top performing consultants are in my team – but I am not even in the top half of the company, let alone the top ten. I have been doing my job for seventeen years now, and I am still struggling. I feel so ashamed. There is no shiny star for me.

And then I took a step back and thought about it. Given my health issues over the last seventeen years, would it be reasonable for me to be in the top ten? Would it even be reasonable for me to be in the top half? When I look at the challenges my family has faced in the past couple of years, we are fortunate to be here and together as a family. I should thank our lucky stars for that!

Would I dismiss the child with learning disabilities because he never gets a gold star in his book? I would rather be pleased he wrote anything in his book. Would I criticize the person with a leg in plaster if she wasn't placed in the race? No! I would cheer her on for even entering. And if this race were a marathon, which any business should be, then I would cheer even more if she stuck to it, mile after mile, after mile.

I am fortunate to do a job I love; a job which contributes to the world. I have often thought about giving up; but, when I do, I invariably meet someone who says, "I want to thank you – you have transformed my life!" I may not make as much money as when I was an accountant, but – as an accountant – I never changed anyone's life.

So yes, I would love to go up to the front at the conference and get my shiny star. I would love to be applauded and recognised. But I do get individual recognition from the people I have helped with words (I'm red hot on the 60 second presentation) and whom I have encouraged in the past. I do contribute to the company, even if I am not the top performer in terms of the numbers.

So, I don't have that shiny star by my name on our company website. I don't have the glittering glass and brass award on my studio table. But I am a star.

You are a star too. Stop judging yourself by the wrong standards. Look at what you do give, not what you can't. You are a star!

Mary

A Moodscope member.