Every person on earth is unique and can contribute something original to enrich the beauty of existence, but most of us, not having discovered our individuality and hence our gift, feel unimportant, believing that we don’t have anything worthwhile or beautiful to offer to the world. Some may consider themselves to be useless or worthless.

Our whole upbringing has made us feel this way. From a very young age, we’ve been conditioned to believe that we are not enough as we are, to do things other than those we enjoy doing and to follow a predetermined course of life as dictated by others in order to be accepted by society. Naturally, we’ve lost touch with our Self, not realizing our uniqueness and significance.

Everyone is gifted, in one way or another. We are gifted human beings and our mission in life should be to discover our gift and offer it to the world, because there is nothing that can make us feel better than the act of sharing. If we succeed in making a positive difference to even a single individual, it will give us a sense of self-worth.

What is my gift?

Well, that is up to the individual to find out. Our gift can be anything that sprouts from the essence of our Self and has a positive impact on those around us. It could be sharing creations of art, spreading knowledge, carrying out random acts of kindness or anything else that helps create a more beautiful world. But ultimately our gift should be our very being. Our presence itself can be a gift, if we allow our heart to open and embrace those around us. Just like light is a gift offered to everyone by the sun, in the same way we can be a light unto others, radiating love from within ourselves, showering the world with rays of compassion.

Often we are told that giving is risky without taking anything in return, but the truth is that true giving is unconditional. Only when we give without wanting something back, do we give from the heart, without the influence of the cunning, manipulative, exploitative or selfish mind that most people have developed and our competitive society rewards them for.

Peace and joy are derived from giving, from sharing our being with the world with no expectation of reward and, paradoxically, the more we give, the more fulfilled we will be.