Ponderings at Powell’s- Life Lessons in a Book Store?

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I slipped away to Portland, Oregon. This beautiful city is one of our favorite miniature vacation spots and it is practically right in our backyard. As ever, we had an amazing time. We walked for hours, perused the many wonderful shops, dined on incredible food and spirits, and spent many simple, yet fabulous, moments together. Yummy!
One particular experience we had while in Portland prompted me to write this piece. I was gifted with a reminder; a nudging truth that I hope will inspire new levels of awareness and beauty in your life, as it does mine. While the message I am relaying in this article is something I truly know and share with my clients regularly, it hit me with a new level of intensity. It is truth about each of us that is simple and profound all at once.
The nudging reminder came to me while we were in Powell's Bookstore. It must be noted that Powell's is actually less like a "store" and more like a book "mall" that takes up an entire city block. My Sweetie and I did what we love to do; we wandered throughout the entire place and dived for any room with headings that sounded interesting, bazaar, funny, mysterious, or just intriguing, and read passages aloud together. We laughed, shook our heads in bewilderment, engaged in interesting discussions and dreamt of our next major vacation destination between our readings.
While in the self-help area, I became suddenly aware of the immense amount of "information" that exists in so very many forms. It's overwhelming and staggeringly wonderful to consider the resources that are available to us in this day and age. If we want to improve our lives in any given area, there isn't just one, but hundreds, if not thousands of books, audio programs, videos, and other forms of media to choose from. No matter who we are, what language we speak, or the learning style or preferences we possess, we can find just about anything we want to find to assist us on our journey.
The trick of course is to know where to find it, seeing it when it is smack dab in front of our faces, and recognizing the value it could add to our lives. Standing there in Powell's, in the midst of all of those potential gifts of knowledge and inspiration that surrounded me, I could feel nothing but gratitude. I was and am still grateful to all those who have taken the time and effort, whatever their motivation might have been, to write and share their messages and stories with the world.
I then thought of the book I am currently writing and was grateful for the chance to join these messengers in gifting to the world yet another resource that may touch a life, or many lives, in ways no other message could; not simply because of the story or message itself, but because of the messenger. It amazes me to think of all the times I have heard a particular message over and over only to have its' deeper meaning elude me. Then, almost magically, upon hearing it a sixth, seventh, or even a fifteenth time, the message explodes with meaning and truth. Is it the message or the messenger? I am convinced that it is the synergistic effect of the two combined.
Hearing an old familiar tune can suddenly sparkle with new meaning when delivered from just the right musician. In the same way, an often repeated message delivered in just the right way, by just the right person, using just the right words, can suddenly create new resonance and meaning for us. That's how important the messenger is!
While standing there, I also thought of you, yes, you - the gift that you possess through your story, your message. You are the messenger through which others learn. When you share your story and message at just the right time, in the way only you can share, using only words that you can conjure from your own unique experience, you may convey the very knowledge or inspiration that someone has needed and sought for years.
So today I lovingly challenge each of us to:

1. Look intentionally and purposefully at everything in our lives and ask, "What, if anything, does this book, this CD, this majestic sunset, this person, etc., want to gift or teach me?"
2. Genuinely look at our own lives, our own stories, our convictions and knowledge and consider, "What are the gifts, stories, talents, that I possess and can offer to the people I touch, the world?"
3. Keep these two questions close to your heart, at the surface of your consciousness and regularly take action to receive and share the gifts that abound. Then witness the way that this perspective shift attracts even more abundance and beauty into your life!

I bid you farewell for now, Gift to the World that you are, with this quote...
"It doesn't matter what the thing is; what matters is how much of yourself goes into the giving, so that when the gift is gone, the spirit of you lingers."
- Oprah Winfrey