Top Five Reasons To Use Your Gifts

I’ve been on this journey, a grand adventure, to discover and recovery my gifts. I think I lost them around the age of five. And in the last four decades, I’ve tried to BECOME many things; an athlete, a dancer, a wife, a manager, a business owner, a mom, a speaker, a coach, a writer…

You get the idea, the list doesn’t really end. Unfortunately, from outer appearances, it would appear to be a randomly strew together resume that didn’t make much sense. I look at my list, after attempting to wear these titles and labels, and ask myself, why? Why an athlete? I was never really coordinated as a kid. Basketball and volleyball were, honestly, contact sports. Everyone near me, in play, suffered an injury resulting from a blow with my elbow or knee. Inadvertently, of course. Yet, Olympian. This seemed to be a beautiful title. Someone to BECOME. Everyone loves Olympic athletes. Everyone cheers for the Olympians. If I could BECOME an Olympian, I could surely BE somebody. Somebody important. Somebody special.

Though I was close to the top of my game, it was too hard for me to maintain. My body was broken, my ego was trashed when I didn’t receive enough attention and, by the end of my athletic campaign, I was still empty within.

Athletics, at least BEING an athlete, wasn’t really one of my gifts. I’m great at teaching and even coaching, but not at BEING an athlete. I know this to be true because teaching leaves me feeling FULL inside.

This is the FIRST REASON to find your gifts and use them.
Often, when I ask clients or workshop participants, if they know their gifts and use them, I get a blank stare, with a few similar responses:

“I don’t have any gifts.”

“I gave up using my gifts because it wouldn’t make me any money.”

“Why do I need to pursue my gifts, anyway?”

“I don’t have time for my gifts.”

You MUSST find and use your gifts.

Using them revitalizes you, fills you inside and helps you feel gleeful.

Yes, gleeful.

When was the last time you were filled with glee?

Probably the last time you used your gifts.

Using your gifts gives you energy. If you want to become inexhaustible, find your gifts and find a way to use them – every day.

Though I label this as the first reason, I don’t believe it is the most significant. So let us continue…

REASON NUMBER TWO: When you use your gifts, your life seems easier.

Have you ever seen an elephant try to climb a tree?

A fish live out of water?

Or a hermit crab stay put?

Why, then, do we try to do things that feel so completely uncomfortable? n
Why do we try to live outside of our own skin?

Maybe because so many things appear to be great ideas. Or maybe someone “sold” you on THEIR idea of fun and excitement. I observe, with much astonishment most of the time, clients of mine full of creative life sign up for a Real Estate class simply because “there’s good money in this business.” Or accountants attempt to scrapbook, every weekend, simply because “all of my friends are doing it and it’s our social time.”

But they are miserable. And they are uncomfortable.

When you focus on your gifts and talents, life simply flows. You are in sync with the blueprint give to you and everything feels much less strained. Less painful.

Which brings me to REASON NUMBER THREE: You uncover your authentic self.

When you focus your skill sets on the things you are DRAWN to, the things in life that truly fascinate you, you gain clarity.

You understand what you absolutely love and adore. You feel life on a deeper level. You know, more intimately, the things you are NOT attracted to as well.

Think of your life as THE OPTION GAME. This is something most mother’s with toddlers play, only to stay sane in the moment. You give your toddler only two choices ALL OF THE TIME: Cereal or eggs? Shorts or sweatpants? Fork or spoon? Milk or juice? The approach works with a toddler because the toddler BELIEVES they made a choice on their own. They BELIEVE they have all the power. But it’s a trick. The reality is that the mother approved of either choice ahead of time. Both options were pre-approved.

What would your life be like if you played this game with you? The difference in the rules is that you are allowed to only choose YOUR BEST OPTION:

Email now or later?

Bed at 9 or 11?

Exercise morning or lunch break?

Heels or flats?

Nylons or bare?

Hair up or down?

Black suit or brown?

Then you must become aware. Pay close attention to the things you pick. Gain clarity on YOUR BEST OPTIONS for your life. The unfolding of this process is that your gifts begin to align with these options, they become apparent. They rise to the surface and fit into the comfortable YOU.

REASON NUMBER FOUR: If you don’t share your gifts, they are lost forever. There is only one of you, in all of time. No one else will ever exist with your set of skills, life experiences, ideas and gifts. No one like you came before you, nor will there be another you in the future. If you choose to hide your gifts, you rob the world of you – FOREVER.

This brings me to the ultimate reason you must dust of your gifts and expose them to the world, REASON NUMBER FIVE: Using your gifts honors God. God knew what He was doing when He created you. He had a grand design and a Divine plan for your life. But He also gave you choice. And when you choose to hide yourself, you don not honor God. You cannot allow God to shine through you, into the lives of others, when you bury your talents so deep that you’ve lost your own treasure map. Using your gifts is the ultimate THANK YOU card to our Lord and Master.

Make today be the day you find a reason to share you with the world.
-End-n