The other day, I was prompted to put the title of this article up as my Facebook status.
It didn’t garner tons of likes and it only received a few comments. But that is not why I was inspired.
Normally, I like to see the individual names of the people who took the time to like something I posted. It always gets me thinking about that person, and why and what may have prompted them to “like” it based on what they might have shared with me about their lives in the past.
In this case, I think it hit a nerve because believing in anything about ourselves is often such a challenge, and being reminded to embrace our gifts is liberating.
The truth is, we get distracted by the natural comparisons that accost us from every angle of life. It’s not like someone walked up to us and challenged us to a duel. No, it’s worse because it’s insidious. What happens is that we see something that someone has done or has and it brings up feelings of jealousy or competition. I believe that social media has created a ton of quasi-narcissist who use this platform to garner acceptance and attention by posting their life events. (Just because we see it social media, doesn’t mean it’s true).
The next thing you know, you are completely off the path of what you were doing because you are now awash in all the negative feelings and scenarios that we start to run through in our heads related to how we feel we compare to someone else’s life or accomplishments mentioned in a post.
But let’s turn this thing around and look at it from another angle.
What if we could approach everyday with the knowledge that we have something special and unique to share with the world and the people that live here? How would that affect our self-esteem and purpose? In what way would it even change what we would do with our time and write about ON social media???
Knowing this about yourself is the key to freeing yourself from the trap of comparisons. Plain and simple. If you know who you are, and what you are here to accomplish with whatever time you have to spend on planet Earth, you don’t have time to worry about what someone else is doing with theirs!
If you believe that you should be somewhere else other than where you are in life, it’s probably because to some degree you have abandoned, lost touch with or never really knew what your gifts are.
I believe our gifts show up like threads sown into the fabric of our past and our present. So looking back over your life to find the thread or themes will help you narrow down your gifts.
Recently at a business women’s conference, I found my mind tracking how many women were frustrated and disappointed because their businesses were not growing like they hoped. In every single case these women were toiling over things that were actually OUTSIDE their giftings.
Do you know why? Because your gifts are usually things you do EASILY, EFFORTLESSLY and you have your greatest amount of knowledge at them. They just thought that since they were easy, it wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing as their work and business!
Palm-to-Forehead Slap! DOH!
This is the greatest quote I’ve read about this topic and really sums up what it is to know and live our natural born gifts.
“Your talent is God’s gift to you, what you do with it, is your gift back to God.”~
There is nothing I can find that points me back to understanding why we always expect that our gifts are something that are hard or laborious. Nearly every single person I have spoken to about this has a talent or a gift that they have been doing most of their lives. That is the thread I mentioned.
The thread of your talent or gift can be traced back through your life.
- Did you always journal as a young person or read a lot?
- Where you always moving around, challenging yourself physically?
- Where you intrigued with angles, or how things were built or drawing and doodling all the time?
These are the types of clues you’ll recognize when you look back.
The other way to know besides it’s usually something that comes easily to you, is that you enjoy it, your pursue it, you learn about it without being paid or prodded and you find other people who share your talents to create opportunities for collaboration.
One more way to identify your gifts is to ask your parents or reread some report cards for the teachers comments. Many times, the things you got into trouble over, actually were hints and clues to what captures your attention.
This way always makes me laugh because my report cards usually had A’s, B’s and some C’s but nearly always said something to the effect of “She’s a wonderful girl, but she needs to stop talking so much during class”. Anyone who knows me knows I a rarely at a loss for words and that I am fascinated by interacting with and learning about people.
So it’s time for you to believe in your gifts. Every day you wake up, remember them. Cultivate them, feed, water and help them to develop them and grow. Use them for the good of others, and be a blessing.
What you have been given is enough, as you, the person are enough.
