A Long and Winding Road
Some people, when they’re about seven years old, know what they want to do with their lives. They’re the lucky ones, I suppose. That’s not most of us.
And there are those who grow old and die, never having figured out what they were meant to be. They are the subject of another piece.
Most of us have a shapeless sense of who we are, what we love, and what we can do better than most others, but it takes us years, perhaps most of a lifetime to get completely into the place where we were meant to be. I have to admit to being part of that crowd.
In the absence of some kind of DNA test that will tell you, at age seven, the place you are meant to fill on this planet, most of us arrive at our place of alignment by happenstance, trial and error, and serendipity. I’m guessing that’s you as well as me.
There are at least two keys to finding your Giftings, and hence your place of alignment. One is to investigate in a purposeful fashion, and the other is to choose well at the forks in the road. Both should be understood and followed.
Finding your Giftings by investigation is a fuzzy process, and anyone who tells you they have a snappy answer is just after your money. But there are tools which can help guide through the process, of which the Giftings Inventory is one. Contact me (mailto:norm@purposeful.ca?subject=Giftings%20Inventory&body=Norm%2C%20please%20send%20me%20a%20copy%20of%20the%20Inventory.) for a free copy if you like.
For most of us, coming to understand who we are and what are our Giftings is much like exploring a new continent – each new river found or mountain pass discovered opens up whole new territories. The secret is in making the right choice at each fork in the forest path or bend in the river.
Opportunities to discover or apply our Giftings come to us every day. Sometimes the opportunity is thrust upon us and it is mandatory, but more often it comes to us as an option. Great heroes, particularly wartime leaders, are often plucked by Fate from obscurity. But that’s not the way it is for most of us, most of the time. If you’re waiting for the Prime Minister to call you to handle a national crisis, you may have a long wait.
A little while ago I was discussing the Alignment Principle with a friend who is living the dream, heading up a team developing the world’s most advanced forest-fire detection satellite. From a kid who didn’t much like school, who paid his way through university by fighting forest fires, and was offered a chance “out of the blue” to earn his PhD, he described his path to a place he wouldn’t trade for anything.
The most important thing I took from the conversation was this: “Always be prepared to say ‘Yes’ when opportunities present themselves.” Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Yet most of us, most of the time, pass up or postpone such opportunities. Mostly for “good enough” reasons.
It’s not a catastrophe to choose ‘No’, but we also miss the chance to take the correct fork in the road to a better, happier, more fulfilling place.
I can’t say it better than the late Senator Ted Kennedy: “You think you may not be ready, that you’ll do it at a more convenient time. But you don’t choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.”