Tag Archives: use your gift

You have permission to be FULL OF SELF….

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images via changeyourenergyWhen I was growing up in Trinidad, I used to hear older people telling younger people (mainly younger girls) that “they were too full of themselves.”

Often times that phrase was followed by a swift beating…a lesson that would serve to “put you back in your place.”

I accepted it as truth, that women should NOT be full of self. That being full of self was boasting and bragging and evil and only the Devil made one do that.

I have CHANGED my mind!

Today, I am FULL OF SELF!

It took a lot of hard work to kick the old beliefs to the curb and watch the bus run over them and kill them in front if my eyes.
I began to change my mind when I began to believe that my gifts and talents were worthy of being shown.
I decided to stop hiding my light under a basket.

Lights and skills and talents need to be placed on high to do the best good.
What good is knowing how to sing and only singing to oneself?
What good is knowing how to lead and never taking the reins as the leader?

In case you were waiting for someone to give you permission to be Full of Self… I’m giving it to you now.

Go forth and be Full of your BEST SELF!

Will people say that you are bragging? Maybe.
Will people say you should be less in their face? Maybe.

The bigger question is…
What will you say to the talents and gifts that have been patiently waiting in the shadows?
Will you ask them to be quiet for another year or two or ten?

What if you ONLY have a few years left?

The truth is this. None of us know how much time we have left so we MUST use all that we have to make this world a better place.
One of my favorite quotes is from Erma Bombeck.

“When I stand before God at the end of my days, I want to say, I have nothing left I used it all.”

I want this to be my utterance also.

I invite you to use all your gifts and talents, start TODAY!

 

Love and light,

Indrani

Striking a match… it’s important to know which end is which

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downloadThe other night, I was trying to light a candle and was furiously striking the match but nothing was happening. Lamenting at how matches are so poorly made these days, I carried the candle into a lit room to try to find some different matches ONLY to realize that I was not striking the flint end if the match!

Man…did I feel dumb. I had to take back all the horrible things I was thinking about the match box manufacturer.

This, of course, had me thinking about other ways I had been wasting my energy and not putting my talents and gifts to best use.

Like the time I’ve wasted wondering why I did not get a gig that I wanted or whether my talents were good enough.

Every time a missed opportunities happened it was because I was barking up the wrong tree…not striking the proper end of the match.

I was not following my own unique gifts and purposes.

Every time I missed “a chance” I was given the space to dig deeper for my truer purpose.

One really good example of this happened about 9 years ago. I was working alongside some people who had invited me to be with them at an O Event where O Magazine was putting on a conference. I was supposed to get a behind the scenes pass to help my mentor who was presenting from the stage. I had to buy my own tickets and pay for my own hotel room but I would have the opportunity to talk to others about my coaching.

ONE day before I was supposed to be in Boston for the event, I got a call from one of my “colleagues” (the one who invited me in the first place) and she says, “I’m not sure how you thought you were invited. We never said that.”

I was devastated but I went anyway since it was my own money on the line.
I nursed my feelings of displacement and tried not to show anger when I saw my “colleagues”.

I am grateful now that those people showed me their true colors.
It forced me to figure out my own path and to strike out on my own.

I can see now that I was striking the wrong end of the match. As hard as I tried to make that opportunity work for me, there was NO FLINT to engage. There was just a lot of nothing. I could not make something from nothing.

I was forced to “make my own flint” and follow my own path.

So the next time you see a missed opportunity, ask yourself if there was any flint there in the first place.
Perhaps you are being asked to look elsewhere, to use your talents elsewhere and to strike out on your own in another place.

Love and light,
Indrani

Sister Rosetta Tharpe….thank you!

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rosetta sharpe via prwebShe was married off at 19 to a preacher who just wanted her to make him money. He used her in his churches and he treated her badly in the privacy in their home.

She found the courage to leave the marriage and she and her Mom made their way to NYC. She soon found a way to make a life for herself and her Mom by singing in the many clubs.

By 25, she was one of the most popular musicians of the day. She established herself in less than 5 years in a male dominated industry.

What can we learn from Ms. Rosetta Tharpe?

We can learn the following:

If you are being abused…leave and take someone you love.

When you need to support yourself, find ways to use your divine gifts and use them often.

If tradition tells you NOT to do something, defy it and do it anyway. Trust your talent.

The young African American performers of today have much to thank Ms. Rosetta Tharpe for and are standing on her shoulders.

All of us are standing on the shoulders of Ms. Rosetta Tharpe….let us make her proud of how far we have come as women.

Let us use our skills and stand on our own feet.

Let us trust ourselves and live with life and love in our hearts.

Let us not allow the traditional mores to rule our lives. Let the mores guide us instead.

Let us use our lives to make the world as we want it to be.

Sing your songs, in prose, poetry, with or without instruments, in blogs and in pod casts and do it with flair. We need your voices.

 

In 2008, January 11th was declared Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day in Pennsylvania.

She would never have guessed that such an honor would be awarded after her death….she was too busy just living and using her talents.

If we all use our gifts, what honors may be awarded posthumously? How may we make future generations proud?

Simple…

Sing.

Dance.

Live.

 

Love & light,

Indrani