This week I am sharing another pearl of wisdom I picked up while I was away. It comes through the pen of author Parker, J. Palmer in his book, Let your life Speak. It is a moving meditation on the question, “Is the life I am living the same as the life that wants to live in me?”
“We arrive in this world with birthright gifts – then we spend the first half of our lives admonishing them or letting others disabuse us of them. As young people, we are surrounded by expectations that may have little we to do with who we are, expectations held by people who are not trying to discern our selfhood but to fit us into slots. In families, schools, workplaces, we are trained away from true self toward images of acceptability.
“We are disabused of original giftedness in the first half of our lives. Then–if we are awake, aware, and able to admit our loss, we spend the second half of our lives trying to recover and reclaim the gifts we once possessed.”[1]
If you doubt that we all arrive in this world with gifts and as a gift, pay attention to an infant or a very young child. They arrive in this world as this kind of person rather than that, or that, or that. They do not show up as raw material to be shaped into whatever image the world might want them to take. They arrive with their own gifted form, with the shape of their own sacred soul. Biblical faith calls it the image of God in which we are all created. Thomas Merton calls it true self. Quakers call it the inner light, or “that of God” in every person. The humanist tradition calls it identity and integrity. No matter what you call it, it is a pearl of great price.”[2]
Our inclinations and proclivities were planted in us at birth. They are our vocational and spiritual desires and fascinations to do this rather than that. When we pursue them, we find personal fulfillment, courage and authenticity, creativity and love. When we gift them, we become torches illuminating the world.
[1] Parker, Palmer J, Let your life Speak: listening to the voice of vocation (Jossey-Bass, 2000) p, 12.
[2] Parker, Palmer J, Let your life Speak: listening to the voice of vocation (Jossey-Bass 2000) p.11
Until next time, remember,-
You are not alone.
-
You are not your circumstances.
-
You have everything within you to live a purpose-filled life.
is a best selling author, Breakthrough Speaker and Spiritual coach. She has spent the last fifteen years mentoring and coaching those needing direction and support in the areas of life skills, leadership development, effective and efficient communications, and improved self-image. Connect with Tyra to get the support and help you need. Contact Info: Tyra Garlington Email: Tyra@TyraGarlington.com For Bookings and Inquiries: (813) 994-9462 As a Breakthrough Coach, Spiritual Coach and Christian Coach, Tyra offers a variety of breakthrough services including but not limited to: Personal Empowerment Coach :: Spiritual Coaching :: Breakthrough Coaching :: Christian Speaker :: Professional Speaker :: Breakthrough Speaker :: Personal Empowerment Speaker
