Sunday, August 27, 2017

Why Do We Hide Our Gifts?

People. Around us every day. In the grocery store. At work. Now a click away from us anywhere in the world through the power of the internet. We are surrounded by and encounter each other every day. But do we truly understand the power that lies in each of us?

I believe now more than ever that each of us is born with a gift. I also believe that most individuals go through the course of their entire life without ever realizing that gift. Why is that? I believe the answer to that question is two-fold.

1. We don't want to know what our gift is. Because if we know what our gift, our true purpose in life is, we are now responsible for it. "Ignorance is bliss" as the old saying goes. The other side of not knowing and having to be responsible is not knowing how much fulfillment you truly would have if you discovered and gave into your gift.

I believe that when an individual discovers and pursues their gift, they are personally more fulfilled in their life than they could be without it. And not only them but the energy their gift creates goes far beyond their individual life, but spills out into the lives of people around them.

2. We don't have the right people in our life to help us uncover and develop our gift. If the majority, or even some of humanity doesn't want to know their gift so they won't be responsible for it, that means those people don't want you to uncover your gift either. Because if you do, it will remind them of the gift inside of them and force them to acknowledge what they have been ignoring.

In my own journey of admitting and acknowledging my gifts, the catalyst to pursuing them has come through other people. People who believe in me and who believe in themselves. As I have changed my circle of close companions, I've recently shared with them my perspective of my gifts and my dreams. Expecting to hear the same defeating rhetoric of dreaming too big and me not being able to accomplish or create what i believe i have a gift to create, I instead heard what I hoped for and least expected. As I shared my gift and my dreams with people who truly believed in themselves and then in turn, believed in me, they not only agreed with my perspective of my gift, they challenged me to see it at a greater level than I could see before.

The picture I am trying to paint here is that the keys to your gift are hidden in people along your journey. You will find some people afraid of their gift along the way. Heck, I'd even venture to say, most of the people you will meet are people afraid of their gift. But when you find the few who are not... they make you forget about all the ones who tried to convince you to be afraid and settle for the least fulfilling form of life you are capable of.

The right people will pull your gift out of you and you out of them. To quote tonight's episode of Game of Thrones, "When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." When life gets hard, when the cold and bitter winds of doubt and rejection blow with no relent, the one left alone cannot stand. But the one who walks together with those who he believes in and who believe in him, no amount of doubt or rejection could turn him back.

I'll leave you here with a few questions. Do you fear your gift? What is the story those around you are telling you to believe? To fear your gift or to pursue it? What are you going to do now?

2 comments:

  1. I do fear my gift. My gift I believe is my artistic abilities. But I fear them and do not Persue them because the world has told me it does not offer jobs to support a family or means of living.

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  2. You're right. The world doesn't support the artists and the dreamers. It warns against those who step outside the machine. Because If too many people realize they can not only survive outside the machine, but they can thrive... the machine would come to a halt.

    Think of the Oprahs. The Thomas Edisons. The Steve Jobs. They broke the rules and ignored what the world was telling them. The informed the sings of "failure" and continued on despite what they saw or heard.

    And who are they now? Icons. Some of the greats. You were not born to be mediocre. The question is, do you believe that enough to show it.

    Don't spend your life chasing money. You will end it with regret wishing you would've taken more chances and not put off what is in your heart that makes you come alive.

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