I have struggled for quite a while trying to PICK a thing that aligned with my passions, my gifts, my time. Something that aligned with residual income and allowed me time freedom to spend time with the ones I love most. I was basically looking for the unicorn.
I started out 2018 like this, “THIS is gonna be THE year I figure it out” I lined it up, my one word was clarity. I purchased the planner, and the goal guide. I set up appointments with a life coach. It was the year I would GET IT DONE and figure it out.
That tremendous weight of pressure did not bode well for my creative – spirit – self. I felt pressured to pick. So, pick, I would. Okay, this is it, I’m going to do WEB DESIGN. I will design websites, that will be my thing. Four months into 2018 I realized that over simplified paradigm wasn’t going to work. While web design appealed to the technical side of me- it did not capture all of who I was. So I felt my creative self crying out for flow and creativity. So over the summer, I picked up watercolor as a hobby and that felt good and right, and lettering which also feels good – but alas, makes me zero cash flow (so far!) And so, I kept on, trying to find the one things that would align not only with my desire to live in my gifts but also my desire to serve and MAKE THE MONIES.
As 2018 wraps, I can say, the best thing I learned this year is not to pick. I am all of me all the time. I am not just a web designer, I’m not just a hand-letterer, or just a health coach, or life coach, I am ALL OF THESE THINGS. What makes that beautiful is the peace it gives me to just allow myself to simply BE ME. All of me.
The best thing I’ve read in alignment with this this year is to lean into your GIFT, not your passion. We can be passionate about many things, but our GIFTS are God-given. We can be multi-passionate and that’s fine, but the thing we need to follow is our gift. Even the Bible doesn’t talk about your passion, it talks about your gift.
God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! – 1 Corinth 12:4-11
We put a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves as moms, sisters, daughters, brothers, fathers, sons, to be a certain thing, when all we’re called to do is to lean into the gift God has given us.
I can almost hear the sigh of relief as you read this. I feel it even as I type.
If you are having a hard time figuring out what that is here are some questions to ask a few close friends, a spouse, a parent, or even better multiple people and see what keeps coming up!
- What am I great at?
- What do I do effortlessly well?
- How do you see me best serving others?
If you need more resources check out this free spiritual gifts test.