Yeah! It’s another Monday. We are already seeing spring in Las Vegas although many of you are still experiencing winter. The good news is that spring is just around the corner. Colorful flowers will start to peek up from the soil; beautiful little flower buds and greenery will blossom from trees; birds will start chirping and all of nature will come to life.
As I said, we started to experience spring a few weeks ago. I noticed lightheartedness in my step, a sunnier more energized attitude emerging and I felt invigorated about my life, projects at work and home. The days seem extended now; it stays lighter past 5:00 p.m. so I feel like I have more time to do the things I want to do before settling down for the night.
I especially love spring as it represents renewal and the opportunity to blossom. If you think about the life you are living, has it been dormant – kind of like winter – blasé, one day flowing into the next; nothing really exciting happening. You get up day-after-day, go to work, come home, cook dinner, do laundry, help the kids with homework, hang out with the same people, and run errands all weekend. Wow! That isn’t very energizing is it? However, we have the opportunity every day to create the life we want. We have the ability within us to become the kind of person we dream about.
For today, I want to share this excerpt from my latest book, Who Took My Pen . . . Again? – which I co-authored with Jasmine Freeman and Nancy Fraze. I believe it says it all!
It takes courage to be the best at what you are good at. As children, we are each gifted and talented in different ways. All of these are good and carry the capacity to change the world and enable us to live happy, fulfilling lives. But something happens.
Somewhere along the line, we prize blending in over self-fulfillment to embrace our destiny. We are afraid to stand out and be good at something. We fear being noticed for what we are good at, for what we can be successful at. So we shrink back. We avoid opportunities. We prize sameness and blending in over the effort, fun, and luxury of actually getting up and enjoying using our talents every day.
What would it be like if you were the best “you” that you could be?
- How would you be different than you are right now?
- What would you be doing?
- How would you be feeling?
- What about your appearance would change?
- How would what you say change?
- How would your attitudes and thoughts be different?
It takes guts to live a showcase-worthy life. First, you’ll need to stop filling up all your time with random things that do not bring you any closer to using your talents. Something will have to go, and it could well have a remote clicker!
Next, you will need to meet some great new people who love that talent the way you do. Perhaps they like using that same talent or perhaps they appreciate it and are great fans. And you’ll need to experience using your talents. You’ll learn some new skills, understand your talents framework better, and begin to leverage yourself to use your talent. This will all be exhilarating and exciting, because it will draw you so much closer; close enough that you can almost taste it.
There will be people along the way who tell you that since they cannot yet see the talent in you being showcased to a full 100% fruitfulness that it doesn’t exist or is not worth the effort or time to try to do so. Perhaps most frightening of all: sometimes the person who tells you those very words will be staring at you out of your own mirror.
Still, the courage to showcase your talent is worth it all because in the end, at some wonderful magnificent point, you will showcase your talent. You will actually use it and feel more in tune with yourself than ever before.
Why? Because more than receiving the applause, accolades, recognition, more than any other single aspect (including being paid for it) is the delight you will have in yourself and in using your talent.
And you will be so happy and glad that you were courageous enough to go for it.
Good luck!
Joan Burge
Founder and CEO
[download id=”4242″]
