Gifts for a Purpose

Sign on a business window in North Vancouver, BC

When you think of gifts, do you think of them in terms of Christmas or Mother's Day for example? Or do you think of them as something natural and innate?

Most of my life I have been searching for my gifts and my purpose, my raison d'etre, especially since I have had several near-death experiences, though different from what is known as NDE (near death experiences). Different in that I had some close encounters with death, my birth being one of them, though not the ones you read about (like going through a tunnel to bright light). You can get an idea by reading one of my former blog postings: http://xpressyouressence.blogspot.ca/2012/03/close-call-death-almost-befalls-me.html

This may sound strange to you that years ago, I truly considered that I had no gifts, no (natural) talents. I was quite surprised then what I discovered during a workshop entitled, "Discover Your Sacred Gifts." During the process, the group explored 24 gifts, four of them labelled lifestyle gifts.

And what shocked me was that I actually seemed to have quite a few, in fact more than I could imagine. It seemed rather strange to me, felt foreign even, that I possessed so many. How could that be? Really?!

Without giving the workshop away, a few of these gifts are quite common, some more than others, and of course, some are quite specific.

The main 'test' if you will is to discover your gifts by recalling incidents including feedback and then to apply the ones you have in your life. Though I do use most of 'mine,' the others I am hoping to in the near future. I would prefer to say that I am "in the works" of using the ones that seem somewhat latent in me at the moment.

Are you curious to know what your gifts are? If so, check out the course via http://yoursacredgifts.com/ It's not only interesting, it's a lot of fun!

And, if you do know your gifts, are you using them?

A Matter of Degrees

When people look at my business card or on the internet to see what my experience is, they won’t find a degree designation on my business card or if they google my name on the internet. I don’t have one nor do I want one! (More about that in another post!)

Besides, who says a person has to have a degree to be successful in life? Who says that a person with a B.A. or an M.A. is better - more experienced? - than a person with no degree at all? What about life’s experiences? Does that count? Does that matter?

My mother is a good example of this. She is a wise person or ‘soul’ (and I rarely use that word so you can imagine the respect I have for it), highly intuitive (and an extreme empath), immensely practical, and very creative. She is wonderfully knowledgeable as well, not in an educational sense (having completed grade 7 at most), but in relation to having a multitude of unique and enriching life’s experiences. Moreover or perhaps because of all this, she can easily associate and work with all kinds of people as she relates at their level, wherever they’re at!

As a senior, my mother had to relate to many men as she learned about my brother’s camping trailer business. She became an expert at trailer parts, knowing about their details, inside and out (I couldn’t even imagine)! When I saw her one day in the office years ago and a man entered the store asking for help, I realized immediately what my Mom’s role and purpose was!

Speaking about role and purpose, I believe that my co-creative children’s choir is a part of my journey. How many people with a B.A. or M.A. or even a Ph.D. can say that they know what their purpose in life is? And, by the way, I’m not speaking about a universal life purpose that everyone has and shares. I’m talking about an individual’s life purpose or mission.

Despite that, I consider myself having a B.A. in life. I say this because of various life’s experiences I’ve had. (I would say an M.A. if I was or had been married and a Ph.D. if I had kids, but that’s only my philosophy.)

I’m feeling a burning passion as I write all this. People who question, and rightfully so, my background or expertise when they remark, for instance, that I only have a ‘certificate’ but not a degree. In that case, refer to my previous postings and bio please!... and thanks!).

If people understand where I truly am coming from and know what I know, they would likely be less judgmental and instead be supportive, understanding, and appreciative of my efforts.

I find these people exist few and far in between, though more likely in the spiritual community where I thrive and flourish. In the so-called ‘normal’ – what’s that?! - everyday world, I rarely find it. There are only a very few people who ‘know’ me and ‘get me’ at a deep level. These people also happen to believe in me.

One person who ‘gets me’ is my current best (female) friend (as people often go in and out of my life). She is also a unique, rare human being. Sometimes it takes one to know one! ; )

Interestingly enough, the other person who ‘knows’ me happens to be a vision therapist! (He now calls himself a vision educator.) It was through the use of iridology to examine my eyes that he got to see who I truly was. He expressed to me the discovery of the beauty and rare gem that I am. I say this humbly because, long story short, I always need to re-discover that.

Many people - both male and female - have told me that I have beautiful blue eyes. They do say that the eyes are the windows of the soul. ; )

And I know myself, my soul enough to know that I have a kind and good and gentle heart, one in which I strive to be honest and authentic in my dealings with others. And a degree of any kind, on any matter, won’t tell you any of that! It also won’t tell you that I know I can direct a children’s choir and that I have already done this to some degree (pardon the pun).