You know what I mean. A person whose talents are lying dormant, someone who hasn’t realized their full potential, but who is bursting with possibilities.
We’ve all heard time and time again how we’re born with a unique gift, an offering to the world, a certain je ne sais quoi, if you will. Well, I am just crazy enough to believe that to be true. Now, that being said, unfortunately not everyone is awake in the knowledge of this gifting.
It was ever so present as a child. You dreamed it, played it and told people about it. The gift didn’t always come out literal. When you said you wanted to be a lawyer/doctor/astronaut (yes all at the same time), it may have meant that you wanted to use knowledge effectively and help people soar, like a teacher, consultant, physical therapy, brain surgeon, etc.
The point is that the sky was the limit, your antennae were up, you did what you liked to do and what you were good at. Then, along came the “reasonable” adults who “helped” you realize that what you were envisioning was impossible for the following reasons. . . .I’m sure you can hear them in your head now. You can’t make any money doing that, you can’t be all of those things at once, you’ll make more money doing something else, don’t you want to be a doctor, blah, blah, blah.
Thus the lulling began. We tried to stay awake for as long as we could to realize the gift, but eventually we fell asleep. We forgot that we were good problem solvers, leaders, performers, analysts, tactical, writers, painters, servants, medics and more.
Some of us were awakened later by life’s circumstances and urging from people who recognized our gifts along the way, but unfortunately many are still asleep. There are also some who’ve never fallen asleep. You know them when you see them. They’re living it up in their passion and making a life that works according to their purpose and definition of success. It could include a lot of money or enough to live a quality life. It could include spending time with family or traveling the world. It’s as simple or complex as they like it. The key is that they’re in their gift and they are fulfilled.
How do you know if you’re still sleeping? Well, there are signs. Here are a few:
- You have a job, not a thriving career
- You find yourself spending more time doing something else other than what you do for a living
- You dream a lot about “what you would do if. . .”
- You feel like you don’t have a sense of purpose
