Welcome everyone! I’m Sharri Harmel, Editor and Chief Creative of the Extraordinary Women Magazine, Community and Podcast.
Our sole focus is to support women like you to make their dreams come true and create a life that matters, and we do that through the community within the Extraordinary Women Magazine.
TRANSLATE with x
English
TRANSLATE with
COPY THE URL BELOW
Back
EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE “>Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster PortalBack
Episode 64: Is YOUR closet full of gifts?
What if you put all the holiday gifts for your family and friends into a closet … and then when Christmas arrives, you tell everyone the gifts are staying in the closet… because you’re not ready to take the gifts out of the closet, it’s not the right day or time and even more, you’re not even sure when you’re going to take their gifts out of the closet.
What would their reaction be? They’d be angry! Kids would be crying! There would be a ruckus and very possibly a revolt, right???
Yet, let me ask you, is that what you are doing with YOUR gifts?
Imagine inside you is a closet that holds all your gifts.
Some of you have artistic gifts, maybe organizational, writing, cooking, design or people gifts. These are all presents or gifts that you received when you were born. No one has the same combination of gifts!
Well, I took out many of my gifts when I was a child, but somewhere along the way, I re-wrapped them and put them back into my closet. I’m sure some of you can relate.
I’m a decent writer, and I dreamed of writing a book or several books, but I just wrote in a journal that no one saw. I have really good business ideas, but I kept most of them to myself and instead helped my former husband with HIS business. I didn’t ask for any sort of an investment in my own business ideas.
I kept thinking that someday it would be the perfect time, the right time for me to go through my own closet full gifts and figure out what gifts I wanted to take out of my closet and show the world.
Yet for years and even decades, that perfect time didn’t come.
This leads me to a conversation about selfishness …. because for some of you, you almost buy into the mindset, that to focus on YOUR dreams and gifts is somehow selfish. Some of you might even think that talking about being good at something, is boastful and bragging.
First let’s talk about whether your gifts are special. I am a Gallup certified Strengths coach and every single time I hand over a client’s results, the response has been that they knew they were good at whatever their strengths were, but they minimized them …. thought it wasn’t all that special or important and can’t everyone do this same thing just as well?
No. First, we never have just one gift – it’s the combination of gifts that is what makes you unique. The Gallup organization is all about numbers and they have loads of data to back up the statement that no one has your exact same combination of gifts! In fact, there is a 1 in 33 million chance that anyone shares your top five strengths! So that debunks the possible belief that your gifts aren’t special.
Next let’s address that belief that you are bragging if you talk about your gifts, imagine putting your gifts to work in a new way, and sharing your gifts with the world?
Let’s go back to the closet and holidays analogy. When you see your loved one open a gift that you purchased and wrapped just for them, you are filled with joy, right? It makes you happy too!!
Or when you watch Adele or Garth Brooks perform, are you feeling anything but pure joy when you see them show their gifts to the world? NO!
It will be exactly the same when you take your gifts out of your closet and step into world showcasing those gifts.
So, if creativity is one of your gifts, imagine your amazing creative gifts as a beautiful present that you received when you arrived in this lifetime. You need to rip open that present for all the world to see, and if you don’t, that you are actually robbing others of the joy they would experience by seeing you showcase your gifts.
What if Adele only sang in her shower? A whole different perspective, isn’t it?
Now what if you’re met with resistance as you start to take your gifts out of your closet because there are always negative Nellies out there.
Garth Brooks isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Some people hate country music, so they move on…. and Garth doesn’t worry about trying to convince people who love rock or R&B to like him…. he just shows the world his gifts and sings to people who love his music.
So, if you are meeting resistance as you take your gifts out of your closet and begin to try them out in the world, I suggest you find another group. The people we surround ourselves with are incredibly impactful. They either support and motivate us or they make us doubt ourselves to the point that we put all our gifts back into our closet.
In my Recapture Joy course, which I’ll be running live again in February, you’ll learn that our Surroundings is one of the three keys to having Joy in our lives and people are our primary surroundings. If you’re interested in the course, let me know.
So, as you shop for your loved ones, wrap up those gifts, imagine how happy each will be when they open the very special gift you purchased or made for them. I want you to think of your own very special gifts and how you will or already have started to open and share them with the world.
Do a closet check…. because my wish for you is that we all leave this world, having ripped open and used every single gift we were given when we began this lifetime.
Spread the joy people will feel when you open your gifts.
Outro:
Thank you for listening to this podcast and if you liked what you heard, come back for more!
The Extraordinary Women Magazine Community and this podcast are tools to help you on your journey to you creating a life that matters. This isn’t about the famous or even the local celebrity or influencer. The extraordinary women we’re gathering together are women like you. We may not be well-known, but we are women who are stepping into our dreams and opening up all our gifts for the world to see!
Yes, there is a magazine, but it’s more than that. When you subscribe to the magazine- you are welcomed into our private FB group, you’ll get invitations to our coffee chats and champagne soirees (depending on your time zone) where we get together online and talk about whatever issues are coming up for our community right now.
For instance, we’re gathering on Dec 9th for a chat about how to create holidays that matter as well as the book Breath. I’m intrigued by this book, and so will you be so our next coffee chat is about a little breathing and a whole lot of discussion around creating a holiday season we love. This is a community with a magazine for fun.
Wondering if you’ll fit in with the group? Married or solo, kids grown or still at home. Corporate careers, entrepreneurs, a stay-at-home mother or even retired, you’ll fit right in. We are about appreciating each other, encouraging each other, and inspiring each other to find that secret to your happiness and creating a life that matters.
Go to Extraordinary Women Magazine and join us by clicking the subscribe button. It’s a whole lot for $29.99.
Thank you for your precious time and as I say to my friends and neighbors in very cold Paris…. À Bientôt!
TRANSLATE with x English
TRANSLATE with
COPY THE URL BELOW
Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE
Bing Webmaster PortalBack
Did you enjoy this episode?
• Don’t miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Google or Spotify.
• Please leave a review in iTunes.
• Be sure to leave your comments below.
