The Element

The purpose of my last blog (click here to read) was to encourage you to do two things: determine what your gifts are and decide how you are going to use them.  In my opinion, the first task is much easier to complete than the second one.  Why?  Because using our gifts requires a commitment to step out of our comfort zone and into our courage zone.  It might even result in a few failures along the way.  However, despite the potential of failure, a critical question you must ask yourself is…”What is the cost of repressing my God-given gifts?”

Personally, I’ve known for years that creative expression (writing) was one of my gifts; however, it’s only in the past few months that I have made a commitment to write consistently, using this blog as my primary vehicle.  While there were many things in my past that had stopped me from expressing this gift, the biggest barrier was a mental one; my fear of failure.  I suffered from a horrendous case of perfectionism and felt that I couldn’t write unless it was absolutely flawless.  Needless to say, there are still many half-written stories and articles that lie dormant in the bowels of my computer files, simply because I deemed them as “not good enough”.  The most obvious cost of my perfectionism was a lack of joy and fulfillment, which by the way is exactly what I feel right now as I write this piece.

Having said this, I’m challenging each of you to step out of your comfort zone and share your gifts with the world, despite the many reasons you’ve used in the past to continue playing small.  The world doesn’t need you to play small anymore; it needs you to have everything your heart desires.  As I’ve mentioned on many occasions in past blogs, happiness is perhaps our heart’s biggest desire.  Well, guess what?  Authentic happiness is right at your fingertips when you choose to express your gifts.

Sir Ken Robinson, one of my favorite ‘thought leaders’ in the field of education reform, refers to this process as living in The Element.  Below is a brief explanation of this concept, shared by Sir Ken Robinson himself.