soul gifts

Soul gifts–does the Stork bring them?

~ nicole
At 50, I began to know who I was. It was like I was waking up to myself. – Maya Angelou

So, just where do our soul gifts come from? And are they the same as our purpose or our passion? Both are great questions I’m often asked and well worth exploring.

I believe that we’re born into the world with our soul gifts; so, yes, in a way, the stork brings them :). In the indigenous culture of the Maya, those gifts are divined, acknowledged and honored at birth as the local shaman meets with the parents to determine how best to support their child, so she can live into her gifts and path. What a beautiful gift to give your child: the promise and a plan to nurture his gifts as he grows.

Unfortunately, in the western world, we aren’t given this kind of support at our birth, and so often our gifts are diminished, ignored or unsupported, and we lose our connection to them. Without proper nourishment and care, they simply can’t grow and thrive.

What is fortunate is that we can reclaim those gifts and accelerate their evolution (I know because that’s exactly what I did)…. So, all is not lost, dear soul warrior.

Reclaim your soul gifts

The beauty and richness of knowing our soul gifts is why I start my soul path coaching and courses with Mayan Day Sign readings, the ancient practice that Mayan shamans use in their divination work. These readings guide you through the evolving stages of your life; support you in finding your gifts, purpose and path; and show you what will allow you to achieve those goals and live into your destiny. They are an advanced system for understanding the energies that support and awaken your inner knowledge.

In the west, many believe we are a tabula rasa, a blank slate that we can mold into anything we want to be. Undoubtedly, free will and willpower are extremely powerful. However, we tend to use them a bit blindly: we set our sights on getting or being something and we go for it, but what we achieve doesn’t often acknowledge, nurture or cultivate our soul gifts.

When we forget or ignore those gifts, we feel unfulfilled even when we attain our goal. When we leave our soul bereft; it will cry out in anguish at some point–showing up as anger, frustration, depression, and even addiction or dependency–and we ignore its messages at our peril.

When we wisely use our free will and willpower and choose to fully embody and live into our soul gifts and path, we find our voice and our soul power, and we live a life full of meaning, purpose, and joy.

Share your soul gifts and shine.

So where does that leave purpose and passion? Soul gifts lead you to your purpose. Soul gifts are an energetic life force within you made up of specific characteristics, aspects and energies that are seeking realization. To truly understand your life purpose, you must know your soul gifts first.

We’ve all heard inspirational spokespeople say, “Follow your bliss,” or “Follow your passion,” and while that is a beautiful thing, it will not fully satisfy your soul. Your soul desires more. While passion projects may bring you joy, the joy of your soul gifts is deeper. Its joy connects you to your deepest self, the one that seeks meaning, the one that is your highest potential, the one that wants you to be of service to something much larger than yourself. Passions can be a little bit myopic; sometimes we want to keep them all to ourselves. Soul gifts must be shared.

Once you reclaim and start living into your soul gifts, you share your gifts by just being you, who you truly are, not the construct you’ve been trying to live into. Your self realization is their realization. And when you reach this point, and as you release the energy of your soul gifts into the world, your “work” becomes your joy. It’s an unbelievable feeling.

Feel into what it would mean to reclaim and live into your soul gifts. What would become possible for you?

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Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

The warrior way–the path from fear to possibility

~ nicole

Sometimes I forget I’m a warrior on my own path of self-realization. So, when I come up against a formidable foe like fear, I have to force myself to look deeply inside and find my courage.

Fear is a gargantuan roiling force feeding on its own energy, a many headed dragon that keeps growing new heads when you chop one off. It takes fierce strength and self awareness to defeat it.

I have my own dragon–a fear of failure–that has been an ever present fear for me since childhood when being perfect was very valued.  It’s been a constant companion, stalking and sabotaging me, holding me back from doing the things I most need to do. And just when I believe I’ve conquered it, it comes back in another form.

Recently I launched a marketing campaign for my first online course. I procrastinated, I perfected, I despaired at the technology, I lost belief in myself–all self-sabotaging behaviors. When I felt such deep sadness about my loss of belief, it was only then that I was able to push the button and send out the campaign. I knew then that the many headed dragon of fear was rearing another of its ugly heads and was destroying me from the inside out. And that I had to stop it. I had to find the source of my fear.

So what lay under my fear? I was afraid that if I sent my offering out into the world, no one would want it, and that somehow that would be a rejection of me, of who I am at my core. That’s the fear of annihilation. Yup, it’s heavy stuff, but very real at an unconscious level.

Now I know that nothing and no one can touch my soul, my essence, who I am at my core (I’ve done a lot of work on this), but I have to remind myself of that over and over again….

Nothing can touch my soul

But there was something even more to my fear…. I was creating an apocalyptic what-if scenario. What if I put all this effort into creating something that no one wanted? What if no one signed up for my course? That’s devastating on so many levels, including financially. Annihilation all over the place. Very messy.

And then I realized that my mind was fabricating my own mess. I was so attached to a particular outcome, to people signing up, that if it didn’t happen, it would be catastrophic. But what if there were other possible outcomes I couldn’t even imagine? Aha.

So I looked at what was showing up for me: the very first day, I received beautiful well wishes and intentions to forward my offer to friends; thumbs up and hearts for sharing my feelings and fears; and heartfelt gratitude for inspiring people to face their own fears and put something of theirs out there too. Maybe, just maybe the outcome I so desired–of having people take my course–was not be the point of it after all….

  • What if my offering was to inspire others to share their gifts with the world?
  • What if other opportunities would show up for me that would allow me to share my gifts in other ways?
  • What if something else was waiting for me that I wouldn’t see or be open to unless my desired outcome didn’t happen?

Letting go opens up possibility

What I know deeply now is that it’s in the letting go of the outcome that the dragon of fear is neutralized. I can’t possibly know what Spirit (or the Universe) has in mind for me. Only She knows what I most need to learn or experience or how best to share my gifts. And that’s why we’re really here, isn’t it? To evolve into our wholeness, into our highest potential, and to live into our soul gifts.

Of course, I very much want people to take my course. Psst, click here if you’re curious. That is the intention I am putting out into the world and to Spirit. But I am not holding onto it in fear. I am letting it go and allowing other possible, amazing outcomes to show up. When I do this, I am fearless, open to possibility. That’s the warrior way.

How are you living into the warrior way? What becomes possible for you when you do?

Healing your core wound by living into your soul gifts: how brilliant is that?

~ nicole
Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts. – Rick Warren

Can your core wound be a gift? Some teachers in the Finding your True Purpose/Soul’s Path space believe that it’s our inner core wounds, which we experience as a young child, that become our gifts. While I was (and am still) fascinated by this concept and agree with these teachers, and could see how their own wounding became their gift, I couldn’t quite apply the concept to myself. Often we’re the last to know, aren’t we?

You see, I came to understand my soul gifts through reflection from friends and colleagues; by studying my Mayan Day Sign, which is all about soul gifts and path, and understanding the qualities of my birth animal totem from the Native American tradition; and only then did I take the patterns I saw there and look back into my childhood to see if they were reflected. I certainly saw my soul gifts–the gifts I came into the world with–and I was aware of my core wound, but I didn’t quite see how my wound could be a gift, my gift to the world…. It felt like, just a wound.

So here’s how my realization unfolded for me. As I lived more fully into my soul gifts –my ability to deeply listen and hold space for others, reflect back a whole and healing perspective, and guide others to find their own gifts and path­–I began to share my experience and my story with anyone who would listen.

And here’s what’s fascinating: my core wound was all about not having a voice, about not feeling worthy enough on an unconscious level to share my thoughts and beliefs and even feelings. My voice (and me by association) did not matter.

When I began walking my soul’s path, I discovered that I finally had something to say, something of value to share, something that just had to be said, so I couldn’t stop talking or writing about it. For the first time in my life, I didn’t care if people glanced at me sideways or thought I was crazy or were just humoring me. I knew that what I had learned and experienced was real and true and beautiful, and that I had no choice, but to share.

It was in the sharing that I was healing myself. It was in the sharing that I found purpose and meaning. It was in the sharing that I found joy. It was in the sharing that I was guiding others to their own healing.

Finding my voice was a bright, new shiny gift. How brilliant is that?

So, the questions I find myself asking are: “What do I do with my voice, beyond what I’m already doing?” “How do I amplify my voice for its highest and best use?” “How do I help others find their voice, so they may have more purpose, meaning and joy in their lives?” “How can this gift keep on giving?” Because you know it’s going to be contagious, but in a good way….

How can our gifts keep on giving?

I’m still here in this new territory of voice, feeling my way through it, but it gives me no end of joy to contemplate it. I have opened the door to possibility. And now I have shared it with you.

May my sharing somehow inspire you to find and truly value your own voice, or find your own core wound, which may not be your voice but another, and heal it, so it becomes your bright gift to the world.

Please share your thoughts with me. I’d be honored to hear from you. And that way, I will have the privilege of responding with my voice to you. I need all the practice I can get :).