One in Eight Billion

There are roughly eight billion of us on this planet, and not one of the other 7,999,999,999 is quite like you. The closest you may get is in the case of identical twins, and even there, one is born before the other.

Not only does your DNA differentiate you from everyone except your identical twin (if you have one), but as each moment passes, you become even more distinct from all the rest of us. If there were such a word as “uniquer”, that’s what you would be becoming.

One of the ways in which you are unique is in your collection of abilities and attributes. Nobody else on the planet owns the exact “Giftings”, which you have.

Your Giftings arise from three sources. The first is pretty obvious, and that is your innate, or inborn, attributes. Some of us have musical talent (I don’t), some of us can solve complicated math problems in our heads, some of us can move the masses with our speech, some can paint, some can bake, some can learn languages with ease. Some of us have gentle dispositions, others are fierce drivers. Some thrive in a crowd, and others crave solitude. These characteristics and aptitudes are our birth giftings.

But from the moment of birth (and perhaps before) you are shaped by your experience. Babies who are born into warmth and acceptance turn out to be more socially adept than counterparts who arrive into a cold and remote environment. A young child very quickly learns what works, and what doesn’t, who and how to trust, and how to get what it wants. Events act to shape our innate attributes.

Each experience changes who you are, sometimes even at a cellular level. Every experience modifies you and your attributes, shaping your Giftedness.

But random experience rarely produces excellence. For that, training is required. Training is nothing more than purposeful experience, typically guided by a master in the subject. Training hones the Giftings which were born into you and then shaped by your experience.

So there in a nutshell you have the first part of the Alignment Doctrine, the notion that our Giftings are the sum total of our innate talents and attributes, shaped by experience, and honed by training.

Of course, we don’t hold our Giftings as collectors’ items, but as gifts which are meant to be shared for the benefit of others, as well as ourselves. Those beneficiaries of our Giftings may be our children, our partners, our neighbours, our customers, or our clients.

The sooner we fully understand and appreciate our own Giftings, the more useful we will be to the other 7,999,999,999 of us, and to ourselves.

(If this discussion has been helpful or useful, consider forwarding it.)