You Can't Always Give What You Want (Part 2)

When I am out of balance, (or off-balance as some may joke), I need to figure out why.  That's why I keep spending time on "guilt that comes from not giving".  I mentioned before that I feel guilty when I don't use my God*-given talents readily.  From reflecting more, I remembered that I've had this guilty feeling before, and I'm so glad I did (feel guilty and reflect), because it is giving me closure. Here's the backstory.

Years ago, I had been asked to do a sort of catalog of my gifts in order to determine where I could best help this organization which I had come to really believe in. When I completed that assessment, I was angry because, yes, I had all these gifts, but these weren't the gifts I wanted to use.  I had other gifts, but I really couldn't put them into words, verbally or on paper, because they weren't evident to me yet, nor were they well-practiced.

I think I am here in this space again.  The reason is that I had gotten involved in an eighteen-month project in which my old gifts were necessary.  When I was finished with it, I felt content and ready to go back to being still, to being in the place where creativity and my new-found gifts lay.  I think that's where the frustration came in.  I felt tugged by others to keep doing the old, because I am good at it, but wanting to keep going with the new.

Simply realizing this, I think, and writing it down, will begin to put me back into a more gentle spirit. But again, I ask God to help me.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Do you feel you have new gifts that you want to uncover?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH (Starfish on Sofa)

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling (read more at CardinalTouch.net)