Mastering a Joyful Life Means Sharing Your Gifts and Talents

The Power Is In Your Hands

 

Greetings,

 I am so blessed to recently have been appointed to the position of student services coordinator and life skills coach at a career training school. In this position I am able to use the talents and gifts God has blessed me with to assist the students with morale, motivation, direction & purpose.

 In reflecting on what a privilege it is to be of service, the thought came to mind of how many times we are presented with an opportunity to share or use our gifts and talents, but we don’t take advantage of it. Most of the time our refusal is out of fear, insecurity and doubt.

To make changes in this behavior we must realize what is meant by “gifts” and “talents”. God in his great mercy and wisdom has equipped each of us with certain “natural” skills and abilities. Usually what we are most passionate about, what we can do most easily are what we have a talent for, these are our gifts. For instance, there was a lady from the south who could bake anything. She would make pies and cakes without a written recipe, just measuring by site, scent and rhythm. Everybody encouraged her to sell her cakes. She saw the opportunity but knew that her skills for business were lacking. Instead of giving up the opportunity she sought people who could help her with the business aspect of the baking business.

By taking full advantage of the opportunity she was able to help sustain her family, put kids through college and provide a nice nest egg for each of them. She could have easily gotten stuck in the insecurities, but she chose to ignore them and find a way. We all have a “natural” ability to do something, bake, teach, counsel, lead, write, comfort, inspire, etc… Opportunities can stimulate these talents within us and help us to bring them out. What we don’t realize is that when you refuse an opportunity to use the very talents, gifts and skills that you have been given then you are really refusing to acknowledge an aspect of the Creator in your life. When we listen to doubt, fear, and insecurity our lives become unfulfilled. When the best of who we are is not brought out and shared with others who might need what we have, our lives become unfulfilled. An unfulfilled life leads to seeking happiness in things, shopping, drugs, people, etc…

Discover your passion, discover your talents. Seek to bring them forward each and everyday. Make the connection as to how you can help someone else by using the skills and gifts you have been given, and by all means take advantage of every opportunity to live a fulfilled life.

 

WWW.MAGICALMOTHER.COM

 

Mastering a Joyful Life: Key Principles to Success and Empowerment

 

Gratitude, an essential component to a Joyful Life

Greetings,

Recently I was at a meeting at a friends home. She had just purchased the home and was telling me about some of the challenges she had with closing on the house and how she decided to surrender and not worry about it with the knowing that if it was meant for her to have the house then she would. After listening to what she shared I said “well when you ask God for a blessing no sense in fretting about it”. My sister friend then replied “I don’t ask God for anything, I just give thanks for what I have”. WOW! Her statement really sat with me. Imagine that! Needing or wanting a new home or anything for that matter for yourself or your family and not asking for it to manifest but praying with gratitude and joy in your heart for what you are already blessed with. I thought to myself what a marvelous lesson. It’s like how can you be given more when you don’t appreciate what you already have? I mean how often do we approach God with our hearts worried, fearful, and burdened? How often do we really reflect on the abundance we already have and become passionate with gratitude for the blessings in our lives? How often are we so focused on what we don’t have so much so that we can’t see clearly all the many things that we have been gifted? A daily practice of “Gratitude Reflection” is the one essential practice to empowerment and living a joyful life. With all the different crisis that we face in our lives, health, employment, spousal, children, financial etc… God ALWAYS gives us a blessing to balance the situation. For example, during my 20 years in healthcare service as a provider I have met many people who were stricken with illness and disease. One situation that comes to mind in particular is a woman I knew who had a full career and her own family to maintain but her dad became ill and she was the only one of all her siblings who was willing to care for him. During their childhood the father was distant, insensitive and unaffectionate. None of his children developed close relationships with him, and in fact they felt like they really didn’t know him at all. The father became terminally ill and this particular daughter moved him into her home and cared for him one on one where she could. After many months the woman and her father developed a relationship that was very fulfilling for the daughter and gave the father a sense of forgiveness and peace in his relationships with his children. With all the pain and suffering this illness brought there was still something wonderful to be grateful for! That is God’s Mercy! May I suggest you take a look at your life, make a list of all the things, people, etc… that you are grateful for. Reflect on this list daily with passion and joy, thanking God for each and every one of these blessings. Let us show appreciation for what you have been gifted, because for every instance of pain, imbalance and suffering we are all blessed with something to be grateful for.

www.magicalmother.com