I am a good singer. I’m definitely not the next “American Idol,” but I’m good.

Now, I am willing to bet that many of you are laughing at me, most of you hate me,and almost all of you think I am stuck up and conceited.

Why is that? Who decided that I can’t think I am good at something without being criticized by others and coming off as a big-headed jerk?

For quite some time now society has taught us that to admit to being good at something is bad-and we believe it!

Society has made us believe that before you claim to be good at something, you must first prove it. Nobody wants to hear that you are a good chef unless you can cook them the tastiest meal they have ever had. No one wants to hear that you are a good athlete unless you can go score the most points on your team. No one wants to hear that you are a good artist until you can paint an exact likeness of something.

It’s a vicious game we play that’s all about proving ourselves and earning the right to be considered “good.”

Not only that, as soon as we say we are good at something, we are put under a microscope.

If I walked up to you and said “Hey, I’m a good singer, watch this!” and then sang to you the chorus of a song, more likely than not you would begin to analyze my performance and find reasons why I was not a good singer.

Interestingly enough, if you just casually walked by and overheard me singing in the hall, you would be more apt to say to yourself, “Hey, he’s a pretty good singer,” rather than focusing on my faults.

The scariest part about all of this is it results in us telling ourselves that we are not good.

Even though we might know we are talented or skilled in some area, we don’t admit it for fear of it getting to our heads.

I asked some of my closest friends and family members what they were good at and I was amazed when it took most of them a few minutes to even come up with an answer! In the time it took them to think of one thing they are good at, I could have told them 10 things I thought they were good at!

It’s not bad to be good! It’s ok, really! As a matter of fact, it’s unavoidable. We are all good at something.

Whether it’s singing, dancing, drawing, talking, reading, writing, joke-telling, kissing, sleeping, running, smiling, planning, sharing, remembering, forgetting… uh where was I-oh yes, eating, shopping or writing long lists, we are all good at something.

The kicker is, we are not just good at one thing either!

Each one of us is good at multiple things but we just don’t allow ourselves to admit it.

Now I’m not saying we should all go brag to each other about what we are good at, but just realize that it is okay to think that you are good at something.

I ask you the same question I asked my family and friends: what are you good at?

Don’t just stop at one thing either; think of a few. It’s ok, really.

Remember, it’s not bad to be good.