GIFTS AND TALENTS
May 1, from “Strengthening My Recovery” daily reader
“Each of us comes to ACA with many talents. As we grow in our recovery, we discover even more talents within us.” BRB p. 515
Many of us come to ACA not knowing what our unique gifts are. We may have always measured ourselves against others and decided we came up short.
But then someone we trust in our meeting pays us a compliment that we believe. With the support of such people, we learn to see, develop and express our special talents, large or small. Maybe our gift is the ability to provide encouragement, even a small amount, to another person that helps them stay on their path. It may not take much effort on our part, yet it can be huge to the other person. Sometimes we may never learn the positive impact we may have had.
Or maybe we have other gifts, such as the words to write a book that inspires millions. Whatever the case, we remember that each talent we possess is tremendously valuable, no matter whether it helps only ourselves or others.
Freeing ourselves from our cloudy thinking is what makes room for our ability to see, develop, and express our talents. That’s part of the beauty of ACA: as we feel understood and appreciated, it frees us to express our gifts, becoming whole, well-rounded, recovering adult children.
On this day I recognize that I have unique talents. I am now willing to develop and express them as I learn how valuable I am to myself and others.
My Experience:
What talents do I have? Historically, my talent was knowing and following rules. That is why I was so good in math because there were rules to follow and they almost never let you down. I was logical and I could follow a path of logic to come to a conclusion. How boring is that!! A little more exciting was being in charge of fiscal issues, but still not really tapping into other reaches of my psyche. This logical thinking kept me safe as I developed the hypervigilance I needed to survive childhood. What I have found is that I have an affinity to write. Furthermore, I have a talent of creating poetry. I have even published a book of poetry on the subject of childhood recovery called, A Gladiators Journey. There are virtually no rules to creating poetry. I can let my mind wander endlessly and land on words and topics without following any rules. I can tap into my emotions and put them into words and on paper so that the person hearing can feel what I feel and can be transformed into the place I was when I wrote and/or experienced it. Mostly, I can let out this trapped emotion and deal with it in such a way as to offer forgiveness for the hurts, cultivate the joys, and experience a plethora of emotions that I could not allow myself to experience for a lifetime. I would have never discovered this talent without ACA.
I will never be the same
An excerpt from “A Gladiator’s Journey”
It never dawned on me when I walked into the room
The same for which I was, was destined for doom
As I walked into the space with my heart heavy sighing
I saw people cheerful and laughing and I saw some that were crying
This spot I entered was a wonder to me
Some place that I never thought I would be
But how could this exist without me ever knowing
A place that could truly help, my mind was blown
Smiles were freely given and even many a hug
Honestly, I was put aback, and my shoulders did shrug
Love from the entrance was given to me
But belief I deserved, dogged and eluded thee
They said that they would love and accept no matter what
They just wanted my acceptance as they already accepted me such
This initiated tears like I have never before
But like I would have in the past, I did not run for the door
I stayed to hear what more they had to say
And then like they asked, I came back another day
The folks in this room have seen me weep more than any other
These people now, I consider sisters and brothers
So, back and back continue I came
I realize now that I will never be the same
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