Most of us who are searching for spiritual connection spend too much time looking up at the sky
and wondering why God lives so far away. God lives within us, not above us. Sharing our gifts
and talents with the world is the most powerful source of connection with God.
Using our gifts and talents to create meaningful work takes a tremendous amount of commitment,
because in many cases the meaningful work is not what pays the bills. Some folks have managed
to align everything—they use their gifts and talents to do work that feeds their souls and their
families; however, most people piece it together.
No one can define what’s meaningful for us. Culture doesn’t get to dictate if it’s working outside
the home, raising children, lawyering, teaching, or painting. Like our gifts and talents, meaning
is unique to each one of us.Self-Doubt and “Supposed To”The gauntlet of gremlins can get in the way of cultivating meaningful work. They start by taunting us
about our gifts and talents:
“Maybe everyone has special gifts ... except for you. Maybe that’s why you haven’t found them
yet.”
“Yes, you do that well, but that’s not really a gift. It’s not big enough or important enough to be a
real talent.”Self-doubt undermines the process of finding our gifts and sharing them with the world. Moreover,
if developing and sharing our gifts is how we honor spirit and connect with God, self-doubt is letting
our fear undermine our faith.
The gremlins get lots of mileage out of “supposed to”—the battle cry of fitting in, perfectionism,
people-pleasing, and proving ourselves:
“You’re supposed to care about making money, not meaning.”
“You’re supposed to grow up and be a ____________. Everyone’s counting on it.”
“You’re supposed to hate your work; that’s the definition of work.”
“If you’re brave, you’re supposed to quit your job and follow your bliss. Don’t worry about
money!”
“You’re supposed to choose: Work you love or work that supports the people you love.”To overcome self-doubt and “supposed to,” we have to start owning the messages. What makes us
afraid? What’s on our “supposed to” list? Who says? Why?
Gremlins are like toddlers. If you ignore them, they get louder. It’s usually best to just acknowledge
the messages. Write them down. I know it seems counterintuitive, but writing them down and owning
the gremlins’ messages doesn’t give the messages more power; it gives us more power. It gives us the
opportunity to say, “I get it. I see that I’m afraid of this, but I’m going to do it anyway.”
Nice to Meet You. What Do You Do?In addition to the gremlins, another thing that gets in the way of meaningful work is the struggle to
define who we are and what we do in an honest way. In a world that values the primacy of work, the
most common question that we ask and get asked is, “What do you do?” I used to wince every time
someone asked me this question. I felt like my choices were to reduce myself to an easily digestible