Step Fifty-Three

Step 53. My Gifts Are For Others.

Your gifts are meant to be given to others, but first you must recognize your gifts and separate them from the ideas which restrain them, alter them or deny them. How can you understand yourself except in the context of contribution to others? Alone you can do nothing. Alone you have no meaning. This is because you are not alone. This will be viewed as a burden and as a threat until you realize the great meaning that it has and the gift that it really is. It is the salvation of your life. When life reclaims you, you reclaim life and receive all of its rewards, which far exceed anything that you could give yourself. The value of your life is consummated and fully demonstrated through your contribution to others because until contribution exists, you can only partially realize yourself—your value, your purpose, your meaning and your direction.

In your two practice periods today, feel your desire to contribute to others. You do not need now to determine what you wish to contribute. That is not as important as your desire to contribute, for the form of contribution will become evident to you in time and will evolve as well. It is your desire to contribute born of true motivation that will give you joy this day.

Practice 53: Two 30-minute practice periods.

Here you will find the entire book free for download http://stepstoknowledge.com/

Here you will find pointers for getting started if this is your first encounter with this practice: Taking the Steps to Knowledge.

January 10, 2013 Round One: I have still not recognized my gifts I feel. My first inclination was to think my gifts were my talents, so I thought of my professional skills and how I might enhance them. But on deeper reflection, I think the gifts it is talking about in this Step are something else. Maybe I can make some contribution with my professional skills, but I think this Step is talking about the contribution that comes from Knowledge being expressed through me (which follows from the last Step). When I am able to allow Knowledge to express itself through me, I will be able to give my gifts to others. But for now it remains a mystery.

I do not know what my contribution might be, but I do have the desire to contribute and wish for the way I can do this to become evident to me.

August 31, 2014 Round Two: "until contribution exists, you can only partially realize yourself."

This resonates with me today. As I practiced I concentrated on my desire to contribute. I do wish to contribute, but quietly, behind the scenes, without making an effort to draw attention to myself, in fact the less attention, the better. I harbor the hope, perhaps vain, that whatever I have to contribute will reach the people who will benefit from it. I believe in the forces of the Universe that draw like to like, that draw people to find what they need. So my contribution does not need general recognition but the unfailing faith that it will be recognized by those who need it.

"How can you understand yourself except in the context of contribution to others?"

During the second practice period, this is the phrase that stood out for me. I have an ongoing desire to isolate, but how can this enhance my contribution to others? If I live in isolation, what purpose can it serve? I understand from this Step that my contribution and connection to others is fundamental in my development, so I am seeking clarity in this.

I also understand that in this contribution and desire to give my gifts to others, there must be no ambition. I am constantly delighted by how my attention is drawn to particular quotes from the New Message books that speak directly to what I am experiencing today as I practice the Step I am on. Today was no exception. My attention was drawn again to Wisdom from the Greater Community: Vol. 2, Chapter One: Ambition.

"If you can keep ambition at bay and remain in a state of unknowing and uncertainty, then your way will be revealed, and you will slowly follow it. As you continue, you will recognize that you are following a certain direction and that you are going there for purposes that you can experience even if you cannot yet define them." 

August 15, 2018 Round Three: My gifts can only be contributed in relationship with others. I am experiencing a wonderful relationship with Hilary. We both have gifts we are contributing, to each other and to the world. It is a beautiful thing to experience and behold.

First practice - 5.16 - 5.46 sitting in armchair in the front room. I could hear the neighbors talking quietly and the TV, but it was not a distraction. I have a desire to contribute and the will to contribute. I no longer wish to isolate. I am enjoying the quality of my relationship with Hilary, the exchange, flow and reciprocity of our communication and connection. It is wondrous and mysterious. I felt a lot of expansion in my head as I sat in Stillness. I felt transported.

I tried to do the second practice between 15.00 and 15.30 when I lay down to rest. The sky had clouded over and it was looking like rain. It reflected my mood. My mind felt clouded over too, although I took the opportunity to catch up on things on my to-do list. I did small things that needed doing, so I felt accomplished. I do not think I did the practice very well, but I listened to Hilary’s latest recordings again and sent her a message back. She says I am a gift. And she is a gift to me too. She gives me so much.

https://soundcloud.com/alisonmary/gods-love