The Will to…

Every human being one day simply finds themselves on the earth. We don’t know how exactly we got here, but we are here. Not there. In this body. Not that one. With certain capacities, not others. Limited by our body’s daily needs. 

Yet we have dreams inside us too big for these limited bodies.  

Some conclude these limitations are clear reason to forget such dreams. Too unreliable. Too hard. What can we possibly do with such vague desires and dreams? They revert, with the same experience of unknowing, to staying within the revealed plan of mere circumstances. 

Whatever happens, happens.  

Others see limitations simply as obstacles to overcome. They push. They push hard. They seek to prove whatever is holding them back will not keep them back. They “prove” to the world (and to themselves) they can do it. But then what? 

If the only story is about them overcoming, the story ends when they do.  

There is a third way, though. A way that accepts and acknowledges limitations, and still pushes forward within them. A way that trusts our limited scope does not prevent us from doing incredible things. It is the way of faith, the way of seeing without our eyes. 

We are not stuck. But we are limited. There is a big difference. And surrendering to our limitations, despite what some who seek the way of power will say, is not giving up. It is not a resigning of the will. It is admitting the truth and starting there.

Only the truth sets us free. We start with what is. The person with a chip on the shoulder to succeed, for its own sake, is focused only on vindication. The focus is not on their gifts, or the people they serve, but only on the opportunity to “prove” they can do it. 

Such a person ignores what is. They care more about avenging themselves than about using their gifts for their own purposes. They will work hard. They will even work harder than others and push through the fold. They usually succeed. 

At first. 

But at some point, one has to live with that success. Life has a way of crawling back into the picture. As much as we may want to direct it in the service of our goals, life has its own goals. Heeding those is not a distraction, it is the truth that sets us free. 

Our gifts “make room” for themselves. As they come naturally, or without our choosing (or even consent), so they come with their own agenda. That sounds strange, I know. How could we, the bearer of those gifts, not have the authority also to control them? 

We do. At least we have the authority to say no to them. But think of it. We come into this world without our consent. That’s how we start! Similarly, we simply discover and eventually admit what is  already there. The discovery process must admit the gifts were already there. 

And the gifts have an agenda that may not have been ours. And the gifts have limitations, which became ours. And as we focus on exposing and expressing one set of gifts, another goes slightly out of focus. We are not able to see the whole picture.

We can get anxious over which gifts to stir. But remember: gifts make room for themselves. When we focus on Life itself, the gifts fall into place. We bear fruit almost by accident. The best fruit usually is.