Today’s post has been a long time coming. The question is simple –
What is the greatest gift that you can give?
Originally, I was considering this as the greatest gift I could give to my sons, as they are a huge part of my life and of my legacy.
More recently, I was moved beyond this way of thinking, and expanded this notion of legacy to include them as a part of my legacy. I have since inverted the questions back onto myself.
Here’s my logic:
If I am to be giving out gifts, even great gifts – I need to be around to do so for some duration of time. Ideally, quite awhile – as I increasingly feel like I’m barely starting on this journey.
If I am to be giving out great gifts – I believe this requires a certain capacity on my end to bring forth some truth that can really benefit others. No more going through the motions and casually handing out candy bars.
In order to provide such gifts – I believe I need to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be right now. In the very recent past, as I have broken through some garbage that was holding me back – I’ve been able to really uplift all sorts of gift giving depending upon the need at the given time.
Finally, in all gift giving – it is really about being a custodian of the gift – as these gifts I’m about to propose are nothing about me. I am strictly the messenger, and anything more than that is frankly self delusional bullshit.
What is the greatest gift that you can give to yourself?
This notion of self love and standing for yourself is a core underpinning concept that many of us skip right over. If you truly understand yourself, you likely will agree that you must take care of yourself – so that you an give of yourself in the most profound way possible.
If you are damaged or hurt or in pain – your ability to give back will be equally constrained.
So with this notion of putting yourself first – I give you the two greatest gifts.
Faith – For me, the power of faith and of belief is incredibly powerful.
Faith can be religious in nature.
Faith can be purely psychological in nature.
Faith can be imbued with deeply felt emotions.
Faith can be tied to your daily actions and endeavors.
For me, it is all of these things. I will never foist my religious beliefs on anyone, nor would I want someone to push their beliefs onto me. It is tantamount to disrespect.
Faith is magnetic, it is transformative, it is compelling, and it works way more than it does not work. If you believe the universe is benevolent, then you really will be amazed at what having a little faith can earn for you.
Faith is also polarizing.
It requires you to take a stand.
It requires you to have a bit of conviction.
It many times requires you to have a mission, and a passion for getting there.
For those that work with people that have a magnetic faith and conviction – these are the people you will either love or hate. Many times, it says more about yourself than it does the other person. I personally love it when I encounter someone that has faith, conviction, and certitude with what they are doing with their life. Sometimes, sure, it can be overbearing and maybe even annoying – but dayaaam – I’ll take that any day over the week over someone that complains about a person that has a bit of faith and magnetism from their convictions.
So yeah – faith is a big time gift that can power you through the darkest of days and accelerate you to even greater heights during the best of times.
It is a gift I truly believe we all deserve to cultivate in ourselves. If you have close family and friends, this is something you can help to cultivate as well.
The second gift is bigger than the first one I’ve mentioned.
This was recently given to me on a vacation in June. I had uncovered this notion of a second and more profound gift in a book by Mike Dooley back in April of this year. I had to put the book down until I found myself reading this book out loud on the beach to my partner in crime. The gift is so simple, yet so many of us again – skip right over it as we continue with our busyness.
I’m learning that the greatest truths are the seemingly most simple ones. As of July, 2018 – I believe the greatest gift we have to give is this knowledge:
We are creators – We have the ability to create our reality, and we do so each day whether we do so deliberately or by default. To quote Dooley:
“The greatest secret was, and in many cases still is, that humankind, all of us, men, women, and children, are natural born creators, but no one has known it. As a result, instead of deliberately creating, we’ve reacted to our creations without realizing that by focusing on ‘what is,’ we perpetuate it – good, bad, or ugly. ”
I’ll stop there on the quoting of Dooley. He goes on to say that we create our thoughts and everything else that flows from our thoughts are also our creations. I firmly believe this to be the case. I also believe we create our emotions too. We create our reactions to our thoughts. To our emotions. We create our experiences.
It is a hefty responsibility for those of us willing to take it up.
The implications are huge, and profound on a moment to moment basis if you truly believe you are creating the now that you are experiencing. Certainly circumstances play a part and will afford you a greater or lesser range of choice, although I’m arguing right here that you do still get to choose your creation.
While the implications are huge, the responsibility is great, the opportunities for true freedom and independence are even greater if you are quasi ready for it.
If you remember the old school ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books or if you were an old school Dungeon and Dragons geek (those of you that went to Barre Town Elementary School likely remember a few recesses where we did this and the KFL aka Kids Football League ) – you get to choose.
You get to choose it all.
By choosing, you are creating.
By defaulting in our mindset or not choosing, you are ceding your power to create to someone else’s creation.
For me nowadays, I find myself having an absolute blast at work, at home, and everywhere else in between – creating with those that I choose to spend my time with on any given day is among the most joyful times for that given day.
Whether it be scheming about an upcoming career trajectory with someone I love,
hammering out an innovative self service model for a soon to be delivered capability for the cloud innovation team I’m on,
imagining what the upcoming soccer season will look like for my boys,
or kicking around holiday plans with my family.
Creation abounds, and it is fun!
Oh one more thing – creation would not abound for me now – without the faith I have been given. Maybe they are of equal value…