Have you ever thought, “I know I am here for a purpose.”
Have you not quite figured out what your life purpose is? You know that life must be more than what you are living, and on some level you know it is your birthright to experience joy and passion. You know you are here to share your gifts and make a difference in the world, but you don’t know how. Your head tries to figure it out and make things happen and your heart yearns to express its fullness. You have the desire inside of you, but instead of expressing your gifts have you struggled? Have you adopted the belief that everyone gets to be happy except you? Have you given up in resignation? Not yet, okay?
It is through the alignment of our head and our heart that our spiritual gifts are most visible.
We are in our power when we use our mind to excavate the innate gifts in us and identify way in which we can express our gift. We are in our power when we allow what is true in our hearts to come forward. When we are in alignment, there is an ease to our daily life and the universe seems to present the very people and situations that we need in the moment we need them.
Do you make it impossible for yourself?
Where do you make it more difficult than it is? How do you beat yourself up? Where do you minimize your brilliance? Do you tell yourself that you are incapable? or that you need more training? or that no one will want what you have to offer? Or that you couldn’t possible make a difference in your own life or any one else’s? Exactly how do you cut yourself off at your own knees? Write it out. Now. Take out a pen and paper (or a computer keyboard) and make a list of all the ways that you are wasting your time and you will never be able to live the life of your dreams. Ask yourself these questions:
- Who am I blaming?
- How do I minimize my brilliance?
- What dis-empowering conversations do I have with myself?
For many years I wanted something, but could not identify what it was. I didn’t know why I felt so empty inside. I was searching for something my entire life. What was it? I became a wife and mother. I joined a church. I volunteered in many venues. I went to school and took class after class after class. Eventually, I found that what I was searching for could never be found outside of myself, be it in a role or endeavor. When I learned this lesson, my life opened up for me. If I had known this earlier in life, I may not have made some painful choices for myself or my family–but I forgive myself. I blamed my mother, I down played my ability with a lack of confidence and looked in every corner for fulfillment. I told myself that I was unlovable and unworthy to have it all. It was impossible for me to fully give of myself when I felt so lacking.
Do I have gifts? If so, what are they? How do I know for sure what they are?
I know that each of us come to this planet with unique abilities and talents and that we are all part of a whole big beautiful picture. Here is a way to begin to connect with what is innate in you.
- Identify the people you admire. People that you believe are significant contributors to our planet. Who is it that you would most like to be like? You are just as significant as the most significant person you can think of. Mother Teresa. Ghandi. Martin Luther King, Jr. Who is significant to you? A friend or colleague or teacher… Who do you project your light onto? Identify at least three qualities these people have and write them down. Journal about these qualities. Can you see these qualities in yourself? You have them. What action can you take to allow them to surface?
The people on my list include Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah, and Debbie Ford. The qualities that these people have are confidence, influence to change the world, and transparency. As I develop these qualities in myself I notice that they have been there all along, but I was judging myself and minimizing my brilliance. Fear always won out. “Who does she think she is” is a common dis-empowering thought I engaged in. No more! I am that!
Discovering your gifts is a process.
There are many tools to support you in getting into your heart, and one of the most powerful exercises for me is in a book written by Laurie Beth Jones, The Path. (You can order the book from our local independent book store: Black Cat Books 719-685-1589. Natalie will send it to you–let her know I sent you.) I identified 3 verbs from a huge list. Verbs that left me feeling connected to myself and verbs that I had a big emotional charge with. One of my verbs was to empower.
I have discovered that I am here to empower. The freedom I felt in connecting with the energy of “empower” was enormous. I have taken the energy of this verb into all areas of my life. I also noticed that I had been empowering people all along in my life, but never connected it to my spiritual gift. This simple shift in perspective is why I am writing today. It is why I coach and why I teach and why I use my voice.
To begin to identify your spiritual gifts look at what comes easily to you. Look at what you are already experiencing in your life. You might even look at what the opposite is. I felt completely dis-empowered at various times in my life. It is interesting the ways you may find your gifts when you are willing to look from different angles.
How can I empower you?
Everything I write is to empower you to give up limiting beliefs and perspectives and live your divine purpose. My intention is to empower you to live an authentic life expressing all of who you are. Let go of anything you think you should or shouldn’t be doing. Give up comparing yourself to anyone. Stop telling yourself that you can’t. Step out of fear and into faith and live your dreams. Go for it. Start by saying it out loud. What is it you want? What is it you desire? Speak it and it is so.
Please share with me what you discovered for yourself. What have you already learned about living your purpose? Would you be willing to give everything you know up to discover something even more brilliant about yourself?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Written by CK Reyes - Life Coach, Facilitator and Cheerleader of your Wildest Dreams! Contact Leila using the tab above.
Join the conversation and leave your thoughts below:
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh CK.. Must I give everything up that I already know about myself? AUGH! I think I will try it and I’m always trying it. Always on my journey, going deeper.
Inspire is a big word for me. Funny that I’ve always run away from NURTURE, and now it turns out, I do know how. My daughter proves it. But I didn’t know. So even though NURTURE isn’t my word, and wouldn’t come in my top 3, I still get huge satisfaction from nurturing my daughter.
Our gifts comes in strange and powerful ways.
I think what keeps us from finding our life purpose is that we start off too big.
Not everyone can be a Mother Theresa. Not at first, at least.
Your life talent can be as small as being a Girl Scout leader. I can remember a woman who encouraged me as a child. She probably doesn’t even remember me. But I remember her well.
There was a contest by the VFW to write an essay on How To Help America Win the War. It was for the whole county. One prize for grammer school and one for high school. The Girl Scouts were involved in it.
She said why don’t you write something? Reluctantly, I did. You can guess. I won for the grammer school division. It was the first time I knew I could write.
I think we are sent angels to guide us. But we have to pay attention.
Corinne Edwardss last blog post..LET THE CAT COME TO YOU – A story of relationship
Dear Michelle -
I’ve been mulling over your comment that your talent is as a nurturer.
You are. And I have been the grateful recipient of that one.
But what I think your talent is -
You are a “spot-watcher!”
Your mind is always seaching for the next project and then you just GO FOR IT.
No hesitation. No fear. You just do it.
And if it doesn’t work out – you just drop it and go on to the next. With hardly a backward glance.
I have always admired you for this. And I bet you never even recognized as a talent!
That’s one of the tests for true talent. You never see it in yourself!
But, keep on nurturing. We who know and love you really appreciate it!
Love,
Corinne
Spot Watcher! I love it! Thanks Corinne.
From now on I introduce myself as Spot watcher!…… (others may call it opportunistic, and I see nothing wrong with that – I’m usually following the energy and having a blast doing it!)
Michelle:
I enjoyed this post b/c it reasonated with me. I loved Corrine’s comment about how someone encouraged her to submit an essay for a writing contest that she ended up winning at which point she recognized she had writing talent.
She’s right – angels are sent to us to guide us to the next level. Like she said, we won’t necessarily end up like a “Mother Teresa” at least not in the beginning but we can certainly move in that direction. What keeps us moving is the passion beneath it.
Not to say passion always works out b/c it can fizzle but if you keep going and it energizes you, then it has something to do with your divine purpose.
I loved this article! I’m going to stumble it my friend.
Stephen Hopsons last blog post..End of the Week Gratitude Theme #30
The spiritual gift that I am choosing to use at this time in my life is the ability through communication to empower myself and others to stop being victims. Michelle and CK, you have both inspired me to really, really look at myself over the past month. Thanks.
Patricia – Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworkers last blog post..Health And Wellness Is Your Responsibility
Patricia, you have a lot to share in this world. I love that you are out there empowering yourself and others… Now the question..
Can you ever really be healed if you see yourself as a survivor? Isn’t that just the other side of the polarity?
At some point we need to get to a place of
BEING. I AM.
CK might say that we are both survivor and victim. I’m obviously not talking about specific incidents where abuse has taken place, I’m speaking generally,as a spiritual practice.
Great conversation we have Patricia!
Michelle, I agree with what you say about survivor and victim being opposites. I stopped considering myself a survivor sometime over the past few years because I realized that didn’t really describe the person that I had become. I went back to calling myself a survivor with my blog articles because again, like my story, it is a point of reference that others can relate to. Like the word victim, survivor also limits a person to being a certain way. Who am I today and who I am still becoming is so much more than either word can describe.
Patricia – Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworkers last blog post..Health And Wellness Is Your Responsibility
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