“When the old stories and beliefs that once defined us have played out and grown exhausted, our task is to access our inner compass, the promptings of the psyche that help us find our way through the complex thickets of choice.” – Dr. James Hollis, American Jungian psychoanalyst, author, and public speaker.
What is it that brings meaning to your life? Have you ever wondered what your passion was? Or what you felt you were really good at? What your talents were? We all do, to varying degrees. Sometimes we find them at a very early age, sometimes these skills or talents or gifts lead us in directions we never would have considered.
If you’re still unsure of what your gifts are, step back and take a look at what you enjoy doing as a hobby – painting, or writing, or teaching. Maybe you’ve been taking on some DIY projects around your house, like fixing a leaky sink or refurbishing an old chair or re-painting the interior walls. Or you were inspired to take up cooking and found that it was not only fun, but that you’re also a really good cook.
Perhaps nature is where you feel most connected to what you love to do – if you have an interest in marine life, volunteering at the local marine park would be an ideal place to explore that interest. This could lead to being the speaker on whale watching tours or being a guide on hikes in the local mountains or island parks.
These are all handy skills to have, but they are also gifts – practical or artistic, gifts are also skill-sets and tools to navigate through life. Our gifts are almost certainly intertwined with our passions. The trick is to have faith that you will discover what those gifts are and how we can use them to better our world through service to others.
And sometimes, all we need to do is look back into our childhood, see what we dove into head-first, that brought us joy and lit us up.
