We look for the conventional to find what we should be doing with our lives but that’s rarely where we will  find it. Our truest answers for what, and how, and why we should be living our lives is found in our own personal and very individual gifts.

Now gifts are often confused with talents and while they are similar they are not always the same.

When I was a kid, I didn’t think I had any talents. I wasn’t good with paints or crayons, I wasn’t particularly good at music although I did love to sing. I wasn’t the smartest or the fastest (or even in the top 100). I wasn’t the biggest (I was actually the smallest until this girl Sarah moved in and then I didn’t even have that going for me), or the funny one or the profound one (despite how much I tried). I thought that I’d been forgotten on the day in Heaven when talents had been handed out and I didn’t understand gifts then. So for years I went on thinking that I had no talents.

But then I learned that our talents and gifts (especially our very best ones) do not come in the form of such things. Gifts can come in your ability to listen or teach, inspire or deeply see another. To be tender hearted or have the ability to make others feel good about themselves. To have a thirst for knowledge or the ability to put things in their proper order.

It seems to me that talents are things we must work at. The initial spark that began the quest may be a gift but to truly increase in our talents we must work hard for them. Think piano, sketching, cooking or sewing. Whereas a gift is something uniquely you that you were born with. It is that thing about you that you may not even realize is amazing because it comes so natural for you.

Let me give you a few examples of people I know who have a natural gift that can lead into a great business…

My friend Kim has this amazing ability to organize and create processes for the things in her home. She can also see how to make other’s home easier to run. To her it’s so natural and so obvious, at first she couldn’t imagine charging but that is her gift! And by sharing it with the world she has the ability to help others and make their lives better. My life and home have benefited from her incredible ability to organize. Her natural gift makes her an amazing Professional Organizer

I have another friend who is amazing at motivating people to exercise and eat healthier. He can convince a total stranger (hello nice waiter) of people to try work out programs, smoothies and healthy eating. He’s so passionate and gets so fired up and best of all, he shows you how to make healthy living fit into your own busy schedule that you can’t help but get excited when you’re talking with him. His natural gift makes him an amazing Health Coach.

I have another friend who has an amazing sense of style. She pairs things together and creates outfits in situations where most of us would have no idea what to wear. She sees colors and textures and layers and patterns and she immediately knows what to do with them. Her natural gift makes her an amazing Stylist & Fashion Blogger.

This list could go on and on… I have a friend who is incredible at cleaning because she sees the littlest details and takes pleasure in the shiniest faucet. And friends who have such a knack for decorating and styling their home. And on it continues…

So what about you? 

What is your gift?
Are you using it in a capacity that leaves you fulfilled? 

I believe that when we use our gifts for others, we feel the happiest toward life and closest to our true purpose. Isn’t that a great way to live?!

I hope you’ll look closer and start recognizing what your gifts are! If you’d lil to continue the conversation, I’d love it. Share what you think your gifts are in the comments below.

And I want to add one very important caveat. We often think that the greatest thing we can do is show the world what we’re capable of, and while sharing our gifts with the world can be such a blessing to so many lives, I feel deeply that using our gifts for our own family is the greater act of love we can give. You will probably never get an award or a bonus check for the work you render in your home but better than any of that (which is temporary) is knowing that you are impacting generations to come for the better.

Quote Source:  The Sassy Life