Above The Line Article:
"I'm Still Learning"
By Erik Carlson
I love the fact that people in my audiences range from high school to college all the way to retirement age. I am always asking couples who have been married the longest for a bit of advice. When asking the husband, he always makes a wise-crack… “Sir, you’ve been married 51 years, I’ve only been married for 11. What advice can you give me and others here in this room?” Short pause…. “YES” he sais. It was a joke grenade; it took a few seconds for the room to crack up, realizing he was telling me to just say “yes” to my wife.
I also find myself learning from the youngsters, as well. During Q and A at Bayside Church’s ‘discovering your purpose’ workshop, we were talking about the unique gifts that the Lord has blessed each of us with, and how to build your life around giving those gifts away. This young lady, still in College shares “This entire topic of discovering and developing my gifts is so new to me. I feel like I’m still learning so much about myself. I don’t know where to start….”
Mariann, our panelist who answered her said “Here’s the good news… just the fact that you are being mindful of this at such a young age, is an extremely beautiful thing. Think of how far ahead of the game you will be down the road, being intentional about developing and serving in the areas of your giftedness throughout your life, starting so young!”
I was reminded of how I dragged 10 years of my career in the medical profession on too long, because I was stubbornly trying to ‘make it work’; not admitting to myself that spending half my day in a laboratory fabricating orthopedic braces was a waste of my God given gifts. The good news is that I finally ‘caught the clue’ when my wife and her mother brought this fact to my attention.
The fact is, no matter where we are in our journey of self discovery, we are still learning. Sometimes it takes a loved one that can see the forest through the trees, and tell us what we need to hear. Many times, it’s trial and error. Take a moment today to reflect on where you are in your life right now, in terms of developing and giving away the top gifts and talents that you have been blessed with. Are you using them day to day? Are you shelving them? Are you still discovering them?
Above the Line living happens when we are operating in our areas of giftedness, or as I call it in my Pathfinder Program, ‘Signature Strengths’. This is part of your arsenal to melting away the stresses life throws at you, that can bring you below the line. I’m speaking from my own personal experience here, as I still fall below the line far too often. Enjoy the rest of this month by giving away what only you can give. |
