Lessons learned in 2011: Activate your potential

Over the next few days, I'll be sharing lessons I learned during 2011. I've compiled together ramblings from the year's journal entries, unfinished blogs that I swore I would eventually post and a smattering of thoughts off the top of my head.

I hope you will be inspired, as I have been, to step into 2012 with courage.

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Dare to hone your talents into strengths that inspire others

I went to Barcelona, Spain a couple of months ago. There I was inspired by architect Antoni Gaudi. He was the creative genius behind Barcelona’s stunningly beautiful, mind-boggling church, La Sagrada Familia. (Check out a snazzy 3D video of what it is supposed to look like upon completion here.

The façade of Sagrada Familia is comprised of a cornucopia of towers, each with a unique shape, swirling toward heaven. The interior is a wonderland of spiral staircases, giant cogs whirling together to form a whimsical ceiling, and stained glass windows that cast a marvelous array of colors throughout the temple.

La Sagrada Familia caught me off guard. Caught short mid-sentence, I gazed upward, mouth agape, craning my neck to see the top of the towers.

It seems as though Gaudi wanted visitors to look up, to experience the kind of wonder that makes you forget the need to breathe, to take the time to pause and take everything in.

Here’s the kicker – over 130 years after the beginning of the project and nearly 100 years after Gaudi’s death, construction continues on La Sagrada Familia. The tallest tower hasn’t even been built yet.

Current builders are still following Gaudi’s plans. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that he’s dead?

What absolutely blows my mind is the amount of creativity inside of Gaudi that he put into action. He certainly didn’t allow his creative potential to lie dormant. Sagrada Familia was his masterpiece, but Gaudi was a prolific artist, carrying to completion hundreds of other incredible pieces. Consequently, the architect has been immortalized through his art. His creations inspire wonder and creativity in others today.

I’d like to know: what does it take to be a Gaudi?

One doesn’t have to be a stunning visual artist.

To put it concisely, I’m convinced that every person is entrusted with unique gifts and talents to be used in the service of humanity.

And I tell people as much. (If you know me, you’ve probably heard me say something along these lines, although I was probably completely discombobulated because I’m a verbal processor and I ramble a lot to try to figure out what I mean while I'm saying it).

Because I really do believe it to be true.

(For the record, so do these folks.)

However, I’m not very consistent when it comes to putting in practice what I believe.

I’m finding that I often let my feelings of inadequacy and fear get in the way of honing my talents.

I tell myself that my poetry is amateur, my public speaking is over-dramatic, and if I’m ever going to work with people, my listening skills need some serious work.

I shy away from criticism, I dislike confrontation, I fear animosity.

I tell myself that I’ll develop my talents when I have time; say, when I graduate from college.

I toss around ideas, often get started on them, but lack the focus to practice, to be disciplined, to persevere.

I’ve beginning to realize that life is far too short for such fears to keep me from pursuing everything that I was created to be.

I want to be a person who inspires. I hope to live a good story. I dream of leaving a legacy for generations to come.

Ponder this: What if you and I began to hone the strengths that lie within us that are currently lying dormant? How would we be changed? How would the people around us be changed?

I'd like to know. So 2012 is the year of the Great Experiment.

I choose this year to lean into the talents I have, to explore the potential that has been placed within me, and use those gifts for the good of others.

Here's an example of what that looks like in a practical sense: I've dreamed about performing spoken word poetry for a long time. Words spoken by others have inspired me and moved me to create art myself. I carry a notebook pretty much wherever I go, and I've begun to jot down lines of poetry whenever they come to me. I don't feel very confident at the moment, but I hope that with practice will come competence (or at least some visible improvement). I'm committed to be more intentional when it comes to writing, and I hope to also muster up the courage to share more of my writing with others.

So there you have one of my goals for 2012. What talents do you want to lean into this year?

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For more musings on this topic, check out:

• Spoken word poet Sarah Kay with two fantastic poems on living life to the fullest. (The woman is only 22 and she is a stunning example of someone who has taken the gifts entrusted to her and exercised them for the good of others).
• Don't know your talents? I have found Gallup's Strength's Finder assessment to be an engaging and helpful tool for identifying talents and leveraging them in a positive direction.
• One of my favorite books from the last couple of years was Erwin McManus' Wide Awake. McManus talks about how to live with passion, intentionality and dreams in the here and now. An inspiring and though-provoking read.