As Mari sings with her preschool class, one little girl is particularly zestful with the lyrics, stretching her arms out wide and belting out, "Cause you are SPECIAL, SPECIAL, everyone is SPECIAL, everyone in his or her own way!" There is a boy next to her, his clothes are in perfect order, and he appears to be in deep contemplation of each word. He is concentrating on the "L" sound as it rolls off his tongue. Another child is encouraging the sullen girl next to her to join in the song. Her face beckons to the other child, "Come on, this is fun! You will feel so happy when you sing this song!"
Each child is keenly alive to his or her gifts. Even while singing a simple song, they translate their gifts into how they interact with others. The first little girl is an entertainer, the little "L" speaking boy is an administrator, carefully crossing the t's and dotting the i's. The child encouraging the sullen girl is an encourager. And the sullen one? She is being highly emotive at the moment, perhaps communicating for another little one who is not as able to express himself.
"How do I know what my gifts are?"
"What do you mean? I have special gifts and abilities? I'm pretty ordinary."
"Why am I stuck with this talent? I wish I had his talent it's much more appealing than mine."
Teaching on the topic of giftedness, I have heard it all. People either are unaware that they have gifts, feel unworthy of using their uniqueness in a real live way, or wish they had received different gifts or abilities from the beginning.
Somehow between childhood and adulthood we often forget or misplace our gifts. Instead of expressing ourselves as we are, we express ourselves in shoulds or oughts or what other people believe is true about us.
To cross the bridge to living more purposefully, and being mindfully aware of our personal gifts, a simple process may enlighten you further.
Step 1:
TIME: Take time in quiet to ponder and reflect on your gifts. This may be a time to pull out your journal and do some free writing. Ask yourself the following questions:
*When did I feel the most alive to life? What was I doing? Whom was I with? Where was I?
*Where am I the most connected with community? How would the people I interact with describe me? What do they compliment me for, say I do well?
*What does Joy mean to me? How do I reflect joy back to others? What am I actively doing when I am in a joyful state?
Step 2:
Tune in to Your Intuition, the Voice of God, or Your Creative Force. Whatever it is that you "tap into" for higher guidance, use it to dig more deeply into the above questions.
Often for me, my conscious mind tells me one thing, but when I carefully tune into my subconscious or intuitive side I make some amazing discoveries. God delivers me the greatest messages when I am not so busy talking myself!
Step 3:
Look carefully at your life, and make "tweaks" or adjustments so you can more fully exercise or express your giftedness.
One of the greatest changes I made recently is hiring a virtual assistant. She is gifted in administration, one of my weakest areas! So, I have adjusted my life and allowed her to express her gifts so I can fully express mine.
How can you do something similar? Look back to step one, read over and carefully review joy areas in your life. These should point to the changes that would lead you to living more purposefully.
The steps are simple. Time, Tune and Tweak. All it takes is for you to say "YES!" and take action.
Let me know how it goes for you. My delight is for you as you continue to live on purpose.
Yeah most of us don't really know the gift we have, I guess if many of us get to know our gifts, things could have been so easy, anyway that's a nice write up from you, keep it up