Niche

I’m watching the Sound of Music right now. What stands out to me is how Maria was not considered to be an asset to the abbey, and yet she could find another place where she was useful: as a governess for the Van Trapp children, and then as their mother and the wife of Baron Von Trapp. In the past, I have felt that I am useless if I cannot be useful in every single situation in which I find myself. “I wasn’t good at this here, and so why should I assume that I’ll be good at that there?”, I have thought to myself. “And where was God in those bad experiences?” I am definitely in favor of me evaluating why I wasn’t good at “this here”, and what I could have done better (if anything)—-as long as that doesn’t degenerate into me beating myself up and dwelling on the past. I should not allow past mistakes or bad experiences to discourage me, for there may come up situations that are better—-that are my niche, in short. Should I be continually on the search for my niche? Sure, as long as I recognize that I should be fulfilling my responsibilities right now, even if not all of them fit into my niche. Not every situation is pleasant all of the time, even when I am more in my niche (as occurs even now). But some situations are a better fit for me than others.