Every day is a birthday!

I had a revelation, there is no other word for it, yesterday morning.  It was a revelation of gifts, of priorities and of what I serve and what serves me. 
I know that everyone has a gift or a passion and that sometimes that gift has been accidentally or intentionally buried.  Sometimes everyday tasks pile up in front if it, until the we wonder where the gift went ("I used to enjoy gardening so much.  Now I just don't have the time").  Sometimes nay-sayers get in the way ("You really shouldn't spend so much time writing.  Your family and your job need more attention").  Sometimes, perhaps most of the time, we get in our own ways ("This is an indulgence").  The gift is still there, waiting to be brought out an unwrapped.  How terrible would each of us feel if, while breaking up a parent's house and disposing of the worldly possessions, we came across a beautifully wrapped gift that we had chosen with great thought and love, that we had packaged with care and that we had sent, full of anticipation of the joy it would bring?  I know my heart would break.  I would feel in equal parts sadness for my parent and the sting of rejection for the gift unopened and unused. 

Each of us has a particular gift in our lives.  Some are obvious, like performance-related gifts.  Some are behind-the-scenes gifts, like knowing who needs a cheerful phone call, or a get-well note.  And some gifts don't really seem to be gifts at all, because they don't seem grand enough.  In our house, I'm known for having a high rate of accuracy in knowing who is calling our land-line before anyone checks or picks up the phone.  I don't consider that a gift!  Other gifts that might be dismissed could include punctuality, organization, mending, having a green thumb, meeting new people, remembering names, the list goes on.  I personally consider all of these gifts, as the only one I have any facility with is mending!  What is your gift?  Is yours still sitting in the closet with the wrapping paper on?  Did you peek inside, were disappointed with what you saw and put the box away?

Each gift is so important, because none of us operates in a vacuum.  When one of us doesn't recognize and use our gift, everyone we touch is diminished very slightly.  The whole of each of our families and social spheres is both the sum of it's parts and greater than that sum.  By voting "present" in the family sphere of gifts, the sum is not complete and the family cannot become an entity that uplifts and transcends each member.  The same is true of a social circle, especially a small circle of good friends.  That circle has the ability to lift up and propel forward each member, as well as the group collectively, but only if everyone brings his or her gift to the group.  Remember the old "Superfriends" cartoon, with Zan and Jayna as the "Wonder Twins"?  Both of them had a transformative gift, and when they put their fists together and proclaimed, "Wonder twin powers activate", they were able to activate their gifts AND use them together to create a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts. 

Have you opened your gift?  Do you treasure it, celebrate it and use it every day, with the knowledge of how important both you and your gift are to those whose lives you touch?  Or do you not know where it is?  You can ask others if they have seen it ("What do you think is my gift?"), or you can dig it out yourself, if you know where you hid it.  Our gifts are meant to be displayed, even (or especially) if it means rearranging some of the furnishings of our lives to do so.