Example of good flaws?

[HDSimplicityy]

Strengths and flaws define a character and impact her or his story, plus characters they meet. I want to read an example of a flaw that mirrors a strength, in the same or another character, that gives quality to the story, develops the narrative as well as the character. What is one?

[ScienceGirl]

My whole life I’ve always been told my greatest strength is my greatest weakness. My mom always says I collect stray dogs and people and try to help them—at the expense of my own sanity and well being. In reality I’m not all that well intentioned. I often find myself helping people grudgingly. So what might appear altruistic could actually just be a dread of confrontation or hurting people’s feelings.

Basically this translates to: if someone needs help from me, I have a hard time saying no. And over the years I’ve had bosses, coworkers, friends, boyfriends, and even strangers take advantage of that. It’s caused a lot of stress and tears.

But over time I’ve learned the benefits of living a more altruistic life and grown from it. It’s certainly made me a happier person.

So being unable to say no is a dreadful flaw with potential for a good outcome if you surround yourself with good people.

[Alatariel]

Let's see...

Being very analytical, precise, scientifically minded could be great for a doctor or researcher but could be detrimental in personal relationships. Someone who may have difficulty expressing emotions and would rather analyze a situation objectively. It can make people seem disconnected when really it's just how they process information.

Someone who has a large capacity for empathy and compassion experiences a lot of compassion fatigue, burn out, and emotional pain/turmoil from the world being generally crappy.

A spiritual person who finds peace in balance can have a very hard time in crisis situations.

(This one is based on my mom) If you're a super organized person, a planner, someone who must always look at every angle of a problem thoroughly can be VERY thrown off by spontaneousness and unexpected problems. And by thrown off, I mean completely unable to function because the plan has been ruined. My mom can adjust, but sometimes we won't hear the end of it for DAYS. And she'll get really flustered and need to stop everything until a new plan can be put in place. The planning helps when we have things that need to be planned, but we all need some level of flexibility and some people...don't have that.

And of course the opposite is true- someone who is very spontaneous and flexible cannot stand being restricted by plans and protocols. Can get sticky when there are other people involved who need to know what's expected and how to proceed forward.

[bilance]

Envy. Being envious of someone having it better than you. One of the few things that drives my character forward to do anything is her envy for others. The strength is that she will never give up till she accomplishes her goal, always striving to improve and rarely will she stay down for a long time. SHe will show you how you can overcome any challenge with hard work and willingness. She will tell you when you aren't happy the way you are now that it is possible for you to change your life for the better. However her envy makes her a very unpleasant person to talk to if you want to show her amazing feats performed by other people. You can forget about expecting her to feel happy for others. She won't be able to stand seeing others having it better than her. A tragic character can only be satisfied but never truly happy. Which is what she struggles with once she figures out her envy won't do anything good for her.

[HDSimplicityy]

Sorry, I meant examples you have read in published stories. These are good as well.

Good examples. I bring this up from asking my roommate first. He didn't think it was possible, and I said I would ask here, knowing there was, indeed, an answer. Its fascinating... these strengths manifest equally as weaknesses and can definitely lend themselves to a story. Learning to fix them, adjust them, or living with them can be a little goal amongst the larger picture. I thought of doing this in my book draft. But... I dont know what to do or where to put it, or what other characters can benefit. Yet.

I am interested in seeing what people here have written for that.