Your gifts—the things that come easy to you but are hard for others—aren’t things you work at.

There’s no working on your gifts.

The work is being who you already are so the gifts can flow out of you.

Your gifts fulfill its purpose through you when you’re being who you are.

What does it mean to work on being who you are?

(The ‘you’ I’m talking about here is underneath the surface of labels and appearances. It’s ‘you’ in your natural state: clear and calm, the witness of your experiences inside and outside of you.)

Application idea:

Recognize when you are performing a role, being who you think others want you to be at the expense of your authenticity. Then dare to be honest about yourself (even if it’s only with yourself at first).

I’m afraid if you knew this about me, you’ll see me differently, and not in a good way.

Contemplation:

What if honesty isn’t a hindrance to connection but the way to connection that feels real and human?

Who are you after the performance ends?

Application idea:

Recognize the rules you inherited in who and how you should be. Then decide if those are the rules you want to abide by and live within.

I don’t want to be seen as high-maintenance so I’ll just be grateful for what I have and not ask for more.

Contemplation:

What if being grateful or being high-maintenance both had nothing to do with making a request?

What type of rules facilitate being more of who you want to be?

Application idea:

Recognize your inner critic’s lies, especially the ones hanging in the periphery of truth that sound like the truth. Then be ready to push back.

I’m not disciplined enough to make this work in the long run.

Contemplation:

What is ‘discipline’ and how are you measuring it?

What happens when you solve for an event (didn’t follow through on X) and not an identity (I’m not disciplined)?

The work of being who we already are asks us to look at ourselves and choose to detach from outdated frameworks and mental models that stifle our authenticity, creativity, and well-being.

The reward of doing this work is the freedom of being in the full expression of who we are. When we’re in this state, our gifts naturally get expressed through us and everyone in our sphere of influence benefits (sometimes without our knowing).

One of my gifts is faith. Not in the religious sense, but in that I don’t need evidence to believe things. I’m confident that I’ll always be okay. I trust that everything will turn out okay; and if things aren’t okay right now, it will pass like storm clouds. I believe I am loved and easy to love. I believe my desires are unfolding as I type this, and there is no rush to make things happen before their time because the timing in my life is perfect even when I think it’s less than ideal. I believe I can figure anything out, and if I can’t figure something out, I’ll find someone who can. I believe I lack nothing in God. I believe life will keep getting better as I get older, and death isn’t something to be afraid of. Every life-altering decision I’ve made has been an act of faith because I only know what I know in the moment, and I’m trusting the viability of a future moment that is unknown. Faith is active in the waiting and knows what it’s here to do even when I don’t. Faith is not passive nor unaware of reality. It uses reality as its canvas for play and surprise. Faith is actively taking the posture of belief where there is no proof. Faith is the art of detaching from outcomes without giving up hope. Faith keeps me open-hearted in the not-knowing part of life, which is 99% of life because you know until you don’t know. Faith is a gift becuse I don’t work on believing these things. I work on being who I am, and when I do, the gift of faith fulfills its purpose through me. It helps me see what others can’t see and hold belief for there while we’re here. It helps me connect the pieces in life’s puzzles for others. It instills calm, order, and meaning in the messiness and hardships of life. It zooms out of the micro and takes the long view. I work on sturdying myself in my foundation, cultivating a compassionate voice within the home of myself, and getting out of the way of the gift’s path and expression.