By Loise Machira

The systems of the world, try to take your confidence,
But these systems were designed to make you doubt what heaven sent,

The systems of the world will try to take your confidence,
But these systems were designed to make you sit down on your gift,

But the gift God gave to you, give it back to Him- The Gift, Donald Lawrence

Dear Reader,

The ability to wake up every morning is a blessing many take for granted yet it should be the first thing we are grateful for. God puts each fresh morning, each new chance of life, into our hands as a gift to see what we will do with it. Being able to identify your divine gift and actively using it to serve others is the path to living in fulfilment.

Being a lover of music, I came across the song 'The Gift' by Donald Lawrence for the first time last week while going through a personal crisis and the lyrics were so timely. I was inspired to reflect on where our passion comes from, what informs a purpose driven life, and why we’re naturally drawn to certain activities, topics or even hobbies. For the purposes of this article, I’d like to consider the gift as being alive and living in your purpose or dharma.

Sometimes we go through traumatic events that shape our outlook on life, and it’s up to us to determine whether it will be a positive or negative experience. If we choose to focus on the hurt, we continue to suffer, but if we focus on the lesson, we continue to grow. Although it’s easier said than done, pain is inevitable, but growth will always be optional. When we look at situations from this perspective, we begin to shed off baggage that prevents us from realizing our true potential or in this case, the gift within us.

In the book ‘Think Like A Monk’ by Jay Shetty, he walks us through a spiritual awakening he had while at the Ashram. His spiritual leader asked him to look at a mirror to see if there is anything he could see but due to the dust, Jay couldn’t see anything. In that moment, the Monk rubbed off the dust with his robe, and asked him again what he could see. This time, Jay saw his reflection clearly. The lesson was that we need to quiet the noise of the world and uproot ourselves from the conditioning of society to clearly see ourselves.

This teaching was so monumental because I could fully relate to being at a crossroads with my personal and professional life. I wrote about the ultimate self-care routine where prayer and meditation are key anchors to maintaining peace of mind and clarity. Spiritual clarity specifically, helps us stay grounded when we go through seasons where we question our worth or value. Have you ever been in a situation where you completely lost your moral compass, only to look back and ask yourself how you got there?

The places where you experience the most pain births the most purpose. Your pain won’t have purpose if its private, your story has the power to set someone else free, so tell it. If you’re struggling to identify your passion or purpose, consider looking into situations where you suffered or your decisions didn’t reflect your value system.

Steve Harvey, a motivational speaker, and successful comedian said that our imagination comes only from God. That nobody else will ever fully understand the vision from your imagination unless you ignore their opinions and constantly work towards it. The systems of the world will constantly try to negate your efforts in making your vision a reality, but you must stay grounded and keep working on it.

If you pay attention, cultivate self-awareness, feed your strengths, and starve your distractions, you will find your gift. In an interview on Women of Impact, Sarah Jakes Roberts talked about the importance of incubating our hope by feeding ourselves positive messages because the greatest enemy lies between our ears. In a society where we have normalized ‘cancelling out’ toxic people, she advises us to meet people where they are and acknowledge they need healing. However, don't entertain them, keep it moving.

Self-awareness enables you to manage your engagement with people who make you second guess yourself, or trigger anxiety and insecurities. At the same time, it’s a journey of self-discovery where you need to start tracing why certain comments rub you off the wrong way. Perhaps you need deep reflection and healing too. Perhaps these uncomfortable situations are ultimately a re-direction to your God given gift.

Yours in Wellness,

@TiziTalks

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