Don’t Overthink It.

Don’t overthink your gifts, just enjoy them.

So much energy is spent on figuring out what we need to do with our gifts, what purpose do I need to serve with these gifts and why me?

Although these questions are very important, I have come to believe that one thing that really matters is that we enjoy our gifts.

The last few months have made me realize how important happiness is, it literally keeps us alive, hoping and wanting to carry on with life. Our body is even designed to release happy hormones in order to assist this process, so happiness is not just a thing that happens by chance, it is what our souls and bodies need and something worth fighting for.

I am going to further explain my point by sharing a story about my mom. Our family recently lost my dad, after being married for 30+ years, it is natural for a spouse to lose their mind after losing the love of their live. My mom had such a hard time accepting my dad’s passing that she had to be admitted into hospital because of depression. She was constantly crying, heartbroken and feeling hopeless coupled with not eating or enjoying anything in life. The hospital told her she would need to complete a 3 week course that included intensive counseling, activities and basically things structured to help one get back on the life road.

A week passed and this was around Christmas time, her doctor asked if her family was coming to visit and if her grandkids in particular will be there (I assume she mentioned they are a big part of her joy in some session), with the answer being yes, the doctor decided to release her for that reason.

The kids and I spent Christmas and New Years at home with her, I had to come back to work so I decided to leave the kids. Within that week, her mood and condition had improved significantly. She went back to the hospital to complete her last two weeks and within a week of her return, they declared her fit to return back home. Having the grandkids had improved her condition and her body was making happy hormones again.

Our gifts play a similar role, over and above them possibly generating income for us, I believe their core purpose is to bring us joy, not only for ourselves but also to those around us.

I have stopped over thinking one particular gift of mine, I just indulge in it when I get an opportunity and I embrace all the happiness it brings in that moment. I’ve been good at overthinking this gift for years, after varsity I dropped everything to go pursue dance, I was passionate and on fire, but I soon realized that in a pool of really talented dancers, I was quite an underwhelming dancer. Not that my gift suddenly disappeared, but because it required years of putting in the work, training, building and becoming good enough to have people pay to come watch me. After all, that’s how dancers eat. So I had to have an honest conversation with myself, that although I loved dancing, it is certainly not my desire to have it as my bread and butter, some people do it brilliantly, but me? I felt it wasn’t something I wanted to fully invest myself in- I must admit, the state of the economy played a very big role in that decision, but also the nature of the work also made me think twice, the traveling, the hours- above all other things I wanted, I felt it would take so much from me and I made a choice to not pursue it in that way.

Years passed and I could feel a difference in me, not a good one I might add. I worked for a dance company and occasionally joined their morning classes, I also got to see them dance, perform and help with the admin, sometimes be involved in their creative process by offering opinions- so somehow that fed me for a while and it felt okay. However I still wasn’t dancing and felt like I needed to awaken that part of me.

I then discovered a class called Move at the gym and the instructor is quite a good dancer, this class takes place once a week but attending that 1hr class each week has made such a difference in helping me survive. It is in that moment that I realized how much we miss by overthinking simple things. Dance makes me happy, I might not be a professional dancer or amazing at it, but I do it because it feeds something in me, and taking that as it comes has become enough for me.

There are other things I love about life and they certainly make me happy, but there are specific things we all have that awaken a different thing in us, don’t over think those things, just get them done. Do them. Find an opportunity, a gap, something, and get them done. Our happiness matters, it is literally really important for our well being, it is worth all the trouble.

Don’t over think your gifts, just use and enjoy them!

Photo by Quangpraha