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

 

 

Mastering a Joyful Life: The Meaning of being an Empowered Person

Greetings,

Recently I was talking with a friend and who asked me what it meant to be an empowered person.  I stated simply that being empowered is having the power to do the things that you want to do in your life. After getting home that evening the conversation kept playing in my head with the single question rising to the forefront “what does it mean to be an empowered person?” Well, needless to say I spent about a few hours on the web researching the various definitions of what it means to be empowered. Now, anyone who knows me knows that book definitions are never enough and so even after all that I was still not satisfied with the answer to the question. So here we will explore what it means to be empowered in relation to living a joyful life

The dictionary defines empowered as “to enable or to permit” Hmm that’s interesting. To be empowered means to enable or to permit. Well when we are talking about self empowerment then we are talking about enabling or permitting, giving permission to ones self to achieve, to succeed, to be enlightened to be uplifted. An empowered person in his or her spiritual life is one who has enabled or permits God to guide his life, to be receptive to and to follow the steps ordered by God etc…

Indeed to be an empowered person means that you function with a sense of self confidence, of self love and self respect. It means that you acknowledge your feelings around a particular situation, fear, anger, envy, etc… but you refuse to allow them to control you. You don’t get stuck in the emotions. You move past the emotions and do what you are setting out to do.  For example, there was a woman who had a great sense of style and an eye for fashion. She wanted to open a clothing store but everyone around her kept telling her that she couldn’t do it. They kept reminding her of what she didn’t have, the money, time, business experience, etc… Mind you that when the initial idea came to her she felt empowered, enabled and permitted to do it. But after listening to the folks around her she GAVE them and their negativity her power, her self confidence and self respect,  she empowered them . She gave into the negative thoughts of others and permitted that negativity to prevent her from realizing a goal she wanted to accomplish. Subsequently she began to feel depressed and sad most of the time and was unable to see her life as meaningful and joyful. This will never do!

Beloved, The Creator has endowed us with the ability to manifest his will and the righteous desires of our heart. I mean if the woman who wanted to start the clothing store would have done it instead of giving her power, giving permission to other to bring her down, how many people could she have employed, how might she have changed the fashion industry?  Do you see my meaning? We were all born with the ability to create our lives in a good and glorious fashion.  We all have a piece to the puzzle called life that will make it a better place for us and those whose lives we touch. Even those who seem to be at the bottom of life’s rung have not been left out of the opportunity to be empowered. First and foremost we must begin to cultivate the daily habit of enabling and permitting God in our lives for this is the true path to empowerment. Second, everyday we must affirm, claim and manifest our self-worth, self-love and self-respect. We must begin to realize that we have been given permission and enabled by God to set forth and share our talents, gifts and goodness with all who cross our path. Third, we must take note of people in our lives who may not have the best intentions for us and our goals and put some space and distance, with love of course, between them and us. Forth we gotta just do it. Research starting that business, then move out on it. Be informed about losing weight then get in the gym! Know what it would take to go back to school and enroll now! After all as empowered people we know that there will never be the perfect time or enough money or everything in place just the way we need it to be. Being EMPOWERED  means I live my life JOYFULLY, ABUNDANTLY, SPIRITUALLY NOW!!

www.magicalmother.com

Mastering a Joyful Life

 

Peace and Blessings Beloved,

I am so pleased to offer this column to you as it regards Mastering a Joyful Life. Over the next several issues, we will see that Mastering a Joyful Life is everyone’s opportunity and can be and should be consistently participated in. In this column we will explore the definitions of “happiness” and “joy” in relationship to our lives. Over the past 20 years I have been so fortunate and indeed blessed to have studied various teachings. I have tested and lived out many of these teachings in my life, which have rounded out my perspective of life. Thus my sharing with you will be mostly from my EXPERIENCE and first hand knowledge as opposed to intellectual understanding although some of that will come into play as well. As far back humans can remember our quest has been for “happiness and joy” what does it mean to have a joyful happy life? Most people identify being happy and joyful with some event or situation in their lives. Many folks will say that being happy and joyful is a feeling, or emotions associated with someone or acquiring something, say a car or house, or lover or mate. I wish to offer you a different perspective. The dictionary defines the word happiness as: good fortune; pleasure; contentment; and joy. While these are the intellectual meanings of happiness and joy, I submit to you a much deeper understanding. You can invoke joy at anytime, whenever you want no matter what is going on in your life! Manifesting a Joyful Happy life is a state of being, a state of mind. It depends entirely on your understanding of your relationship with your higher power, not in material or sensual possessions. For example how many times have we read in the news how some ridiculously rich person commits suicide, or their children are all messed up on drugs and abuse of privilege? And do you know at least one person who seems not to have much materially but they are always “joyful” or “happy”. Do you see my point? Some people seemingly have everything and are miserable while others seem not to have much, and are content. What’s the difference, what is missing? Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being wealthy, or having material possessions in fact if you are an empowered Being you seek wealth and all God’s abundance, but the thing to understand is that there is NOTHING that can make you HAPPY or bring you JOY and as this is the case your joy your happiness is solely under your direction and control. The material should not and cannot hold your Joy hostage! Now you may say Sa Mut that is easier said than done. How do I invoke joy when my mortgage needs to be paid or my kids are acting up, my spouse is a liar and a cheat or I just got fired from my job?! True indeed those are situations that would make anyone “feel” less than joyful, however that’s all it should be is a “feeling”. Unfortunately we are not taught the keys to life’s success so we have to “reprogram” ourselves to engage in peace and joy. If your perspective is that NOTHING can take your Joy or your happiness, and you constantly reinforce these thoughts calmly and peacefully then you will find the way out of whatever the situation is. Put it to the test! Several times a day focus on being calm, peaceful and joyful take a few minutes in the morning, sitting at your desk, just before your breaks at work and before going to bed. Do this daily without fail then you will see a big difference in your life. Why because your life has changed? No! Your perspective, your outlook has! And that is all the difference!

Sa Mut Angela Scott is a spiritual life skills teacher and empowerment coach who provides one on one coaching, & group presentations to civic, church and community organization. Info contact: www.magicalmother.com