Tell me, what is my "gift"?

Recently in a Reading someone asked me what his/her “gift” was. When asked why s/he wanted to know the answer was, “Because I don’t want to study or work on unless I know I am going to succeed and be good at it.”  My jaw dropped. That is like saying I will only get married, or have a child (etc) if there is a guarantee that “it will work out” usually meaning, forever, with no mention of love. Even if you have a so-called gift, it doesn’t mean you will be “successful” in earth plane terms. Jesus, Budhha, and so many others did not become rich and famous, well famous after they died. They used their talents, their lives, because they believed in what they were doing.  As a performing artist (in the past) I saw gifted, breathtaking, dancers, who choose to leave dance to raise children. I saw dancers with challenging bodies and no family support work and work and work and become brilliant dancers (others thought they were “gifted.”  Sadly this idea of having a “gift” has become a cash cow for the new age industry. Tell someone they have a gift and they will hand over thousands of dollars in workshop/seminar/webinar money. And the so-called healer gets to feel good for getting others hyped up about having a gift, for which there is no evidence, and therefore the healer cannot be held accountable when nothing materializes.  The new age addict might then move on to another source that will tell him/her about another so-called gift s/he might have. The reality is, gift or no gift, one only becomes “good at something” through consistent study and efforts while having a passion for doing the tasks required. 

In this era, it seems the idea of having a spiritual gift goes along with the idea that somehow you are one of the chosen ones and not only has God/Goddess/Creator/Source bestowed this gift upon you (meaning you are oh so special) but that you don’t have to do any work, or apply yourself to learning something.  With this twisted concept also comes the thinking that having a gift means that you will now get recognition from others (yeah for the ego) for your special gift. Sigh. New age narcissism.  Even Jesus studied and learned. So did Buddha (and just about every avatar you can study).  Neither achieved the huge recognition awarded to them after they died. Yet these days people want to be like Jesus including gaining recognition before they die.  Let’s remember that Creator gave humans a left brain as well as a right brain. Science and intuition are both embodied in our genetic make-up.

If you want to know if you have a gift, you are already in trouble. You should be asking yourself what is it that you love to do with no thought of success (whatever that means in this case). Why, because everything takes work and practice. If you don’t already love it, you will not work on it or practice. If you want to know what your gift is it is a sure sign you want to feel special, that you have internal work to do on your self-esteem and need for ego gratification.  If you want to know if you have a gift, look underneath that question and you will find these ego driven ambitions: I want recognition, I want others to complement me for what I do to or for them, I want to make a living using my gift and because it is a gift I don’t want to have to study or work long hours to develop myself  or the gift, I want to feel special, I want to appear special, I am so ashamed of who I am I need this to feel worthwhile rather than do the internal work needed to feel whole and connected.

If you love healing work or doing Readings or talking to angels or animals, then do it.  Study it. And integrate it all into your daily life. Offer it up freely to others and apply your talents quietly or silently to others without the benefit of accolades or even recognition. For twenty years as a professor I used Readings and energies to help students. A few recognized what was going on and talked to me about it, most did not. It was silent work. Why did I do it? Because I loved it and I believed that choosing to live what I believed in, without shoving it down anyone’s throat, would make the world little bit better place. It is how I lived my personal life and I shared it with others without seeking praise or recognition. I never spoke about it unless asked and even then, carefully. There was no thought of having a gift or not having a gift. I studied, practiced, and shared without thought of results.  I can say that my spiritual Teachers all set this precedent for me, and gratefully I adopted the marvelous example they embodied. . Spirit chose them to become public spiritual workers, or not. But they all pursued their spiritual work because they loved it, lived it, and wanted to share what helped them, what moved them and touched their heart, with anyone that reached out or came to them, silently and humbly (see my favorite book about sharing “gifts”, the Kin of Ata by Dorothy Bryant).  

We all have gifts. What you do with them is your free will. Some have gifts and walk away from them because the industry the gift belongs to is too corrupt. Some walk away from their so-called gifts because they realize they are not ready. Some ride the wave of their gift, doing no work on it and when the wave crashes, so do they.  Follow your interest and passion when learning and practicing something outside the boundaries of everyday life be it music, art, spiritual practices. Just do it. Then let Spirit decide how your “gift” can be best used. Study (we have a left brain for a reason), meditate, pray, practice, and give for the sake of giving. Your fate, your destiny, your purpose will come and get you. You do not have to chase it implying Spirit somehow forgot to put you on the pedestal you seek or give you a paycheck for your work. Your job is to be ready, knowledgeable, skilled, confident (from practice), humble, and continue your studies and practice so that when you are called to do something for Spirit (whether it be something big or something small, although no act of helping another can be considered small) you are at your personal best. Your gift might be to be the best parent to a special child. Then study parenting and PRACTICE those skills (intuitive as well as psychology and science).  Your gift might be to be the best spouse or street cleaner. If this does not satisfy you, you can bet that your desire to put a name and result to your so-called gift is an ego trip, a red flag that your soul needs some work as well as your ego.

Journey On