“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” ~Pablo Picasso
You must deeply desire to know your True offering
This morning I chose a card from Tosha Silver’s awesome card deck, The Wild Offering Oracle, reminding me that the next steps will always be shown, when I sincerely ask to know my True offering. Your True offering is the expression of your own original medicine, which is a kind of personal power that is yours and yours alone. Indigenous societies believe that no two people possess the exact combination of strengths, talents, and challenges, and that these form this kind of medicine that is healing for the world.
To desire to know what this original medicine is so that we can offer it to the world creates in us a deep longing, at times anxiety, and possibly a sense of being lost. This often leads us to seek guidance, to pray, and to reserve a very sacred space inside to receive this knowing. The temptation is to run away from this empty space, or to compulsively fill it with substitutes that feel good in the moment. When this happens, there is no room for Grace to enter and show the way.
Others can share their journey, or their wisdom, but the holy process of being devoted to discovering what you are here to give—to live as your True offering—-is very personal, and takes place in the innermost chambers of your heart.
The answer is found in the same place from which your prayer of longing arises.
Your True offering is connected to your “big why”
Simon Sinek speaks of the “Big Why” at the center of our lives, which is the basis for all that we do. He uses the example of the wildly successful company, Apple, whose big why is not to sell computers—that is the what and the how—but rather, Apple’s big why is to challenge the status quo and to think differently from the rest.
Two questions you can ask to connect you to your big why are:
- What ticks you off?
- What breaks your heart?
Answering these questions connects you to your heart, and allows you to take the power of your original medicine and merge it with your love. Love is always the fuel for the big why and your true offering.
For example, maybe you abhor abuse of power and it breaks your heart to see others suffer when power is abused? Possibly that comes from having witnessed suffering in your family, or having been abused yourself. Your big why is to alleviate suffering that has to do with abuse of power, and it can be done in countless ways.
You may decide to become an attorney who fights for justice in medical malpractice cases, a policemen, a journalist, a social worker, an animal rescue person, a social activist—-the list is endless. Your True offering is at the heart of what you do. Earning a living can be the result of living as your True offering, but is not the reason you do what you do.
The what and the how of living as your True offering may change over time, from raising children to working in a profession to doing volunteer work. The why is revealed and deepens over time.
Your True offering touches others for the Good
Because your true offering grows out of your loveseed, that kernel of essential goodness at the center of your being, it will always affect others for the good. To be in touch with your loveseed means you are connected to your true and natural self, which means that you feel deeply, as human beings are wired to feel.
You begin to resonate at a deep limbic level with others, and naturally want to do what you can to support or help. It could be to create a product that brings convenience or efficiency, It could be to find the cure to disease, or to make people laugh so they can tap into the joy of life. Again, the expressions are endless, but the motivation is to improve, alleviate, enhance, heal, comfort.
There is a Buddhist term called bodhisattva, which is a person who has taken a vow to help others. In this article in Tricycle Buddhist magazine, the author says: “Ordinary people live thinking only about their own personal, narrow circumstances connected with their desires. In contrast to that, a bodhisattva, though undeniably still an ordinary human being like everyone else, lives by vow. Because of that, the significance of his or her life is not the same. For us as bodhisattvas, all aspects of life, including the fate of humanity itself, live within us. It is with this in mind that we work to discover and manifest the most vital and alive posture that we can take in living out our life.”
Your True offering brings you great joy
When you are living your True offering, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is always easy, but you can count on experiencing joy as you live it. There is the joy in the expression that arises out of the creative tension in your own being.
The great philosopher Nietzsche once said, “One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star.”
You cannot live as your True offering if you are always playing it safe and holding back, as creative tension remains stuck in that case. There is the joy of overcoming obstacles that arise in the process of living as your True offering—the joy of becoming more courageous and gaining confidence as you continue to live as your True offering over time.
And then there is the deep river of joy that runs through you when you witness less suffering and more happiness in others. Because we are all so intimately interconnected, this river of joy can begin to overflow in you as you get older, and the most intense desire to serve attracts opportunities to bring joy to others.
Rumi says, “When you do things from your soul, the river itself moves through you. Freshness and deep joy are signs of the current.”
Your True offering weaves like a golden thread through your life
If you have eyes to see, you can perceive a golden thread of pure energy moving through your life, that attracts all things needed to become who you are meant to be. Some call this synchronicity, “the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.”
When you deeply desire to live as your True offering, something happens on every level, including the physical. The Reticular Actvating System (RAS) is a bundle of nerves at the brain stem that filters out unnecessary information so that what you need and want gets through. The very people, places and things that resonate on an energy level with your intention begin to show up in your life. The RAS is also involved in motivation, so when you focus on living as your True offering, your passion for what you do can remain vital and alive.
When you attune to this pure energy, which is your unique manifestation of love, you step onto a path that you could never plot out with your mind. There is no map, other than the map of your own Soul. Qualities such as devotion, focus, surrender, faith, and acceptance help to make the journey easier, and you will not get lost for long if you remain connected to the golden thread.
Here is the beautiful little prayer from today’s Wild Offering Oracle card:
“May I release the fears, illusions and addictions that keep me from True offering. May I relax into Your Plan, trusting that the next steps will always be shown. Use me Love: use me for the Highest. I am Yours alone.”
