Your Gift Is A Gift

It’s true. We’ve all been given something. Yes, even you.

I know what you’re thinking though…oh great, another lame post about following my dream.

Well, sorta. But mostly it’s about recognizing what has been given to you. Whether you decide to use it not, that’s (sort of) up to you.

Image By JD Hancock

When I was younger, I went through some medical problems and while I won’t dig into the details here, I learned something tremendously awesome from it.

1. The course we have planned for our lives could change at any moment.

2. The gift we get from these situations should never be wasted.

I’ll start with point one. I thought I was on the course to play sports in high school and college. You know, dreams of being a pro athlete…all that crazy stuff. And then came an unexpected heart condition that forced me to stop. But through that, a different plan was laid out before me.

This plan involved me helping others by telling what I had been through. It involved me getting into computers and learning the ins and out of web design and social media, something I use everyday. Now, I have to admit that I didn’t immediately take to it. In fact, I’m just now taking to it.

I’ll come back to this though.

The second part involved a teacher that was there for me when I went through a ton of medical issues my sophomore year in high school. She gave time like she had plenty of it or something. She would come to my house for hours to help tutor me so I could stay caught up while I was out of school for a few months.

Her gift of helping truly helped me through a very rough time. But yet again, I didn’t act it like I should have at that time.

So where does that put me today? Right here. Ready to help.

Through the years I’ve been heavily involved in technology. But I never thought of how I could use that to give to so many people that don’t understand it on a core level. Now that I’ve been involved in writing and blogging, I realize where I fit in to some degree. And it’s my responsiblity to share my knowledge, passions and dreams with the world, and you.

What you need to get out of this isn’t what my gift is. Or even that I want to help you. What you need to get from this is that you have a gift that been freely given and it’s your duty to use it.

True, it’s your choice…but really it’s not. In a world where everyone wants a choice, this should be one of those things that really isn’t. If you’re going to contribute to this world, instead of just taking, you need to use your gift. You don’t have to take my word for it, follow your heart. I’d venture to say that deep down, you know the right course of action to take.

Remember, your gift is a gift. Now use it.

Question: Is there a particular circumstance you can recall that taught you something about what you’re to be doing in life? Let us know in the comments!

This was a guest post by Jared Latigo. Jared is a dreamer who loves to help people understand how important they are to the rest of the world. His dream: to see people who work in jobs they love not at the exception, but as the norm. You can find out more about him on his blog, follow him on twitter or download his free manifesto on fulfilling your purpose.