Over the years I have felt keen frustration of not knowing my purpose and wanting my path to show up in one obvious form. I have always expected to have ‘my path’ open up before me and be clear. When I get to thinking that way I want to conk myself on the bean for being silly. Things don’t work that way. When has something worked out perfectly to plan in an orderly fashion? Doesn’t it happen more like…you have an idea of a goal, you start heading for it, and your path is interrupted a thousand ways? Then you end up totally somewhere else, but you are happy, and you didn’t see the outcome you were headed for, but you love it nonetheless?

The hanging out the shingle thing. I have talked about it before. It’s such a brainwashed thing that everyone who is successful—I know that’s a loaded word—has a website, teaches, gives classes, and gives back in a public way. I feel jealous that some people have that One Thing they do well and make a living at it. I envy carpenters, electricians and car mechanics! They have a trade, are of great service to the public, and always will be. If any young person asks me what they should do with their life, I suggest learning a trade for starters.

For years I tried many different things. I strove to do Tarot readings and teach it to others. I’ve done Tarot for almost 30 years. I’m a great second banana offering support to others. I also occasionally work with hot glass. I can clean out hoarder houses, I love to clean, sort, and organize anything! I’ve done websites and graphic design. I could teach women how to use power tools and empower themselves not to depend on anyone to fix things. I tried my hand at the wild world of rodeo photography. I wanted to teach people how to avoid drama, or recognize and use their intuition. I’ve delved into doing readings, Reiki, and other energy work. I love all of them. I especially love the road of discovery. However, each of these roads fizzled out as my One Thing to do that had meaning.

My search for my One Thing was making me nuts. I felt I had to find that niche and I could not find it, because I have so many things I could do. I could never zero in on what to do for the greater good. That’s when the target you are trying to hit moves endlessly and you can never hit the bullseye. My search has been frustrating until recently when I discovered, rather organically, my role and purpose. With my new realization it doesn’t matter how many things I pursue, or how many things I am good at. Those are just ways to give to the greater good.

It happened one day when I was helping a friend with a project of hers. The answer dawned on me slowly. It gently popped into my head and just sat there like a tea bag in a cup of hot water. Slowly and naturally, if you let it sit awhile, you will have tea! I came to the realization that being second banana is my talent, my purpose, my path. This realization flowed into recognizing my other talents. My troika. There wasn’t just one. Talent number two is, I am also a fantastic organizer. I swear I was born that way. I can easily see where things should be, love the process of sorting and organizing, and I can see how a process should be designed so things flow smoothly. Natural born talent number three is fantastic intuition. Paired with a very rich store of visual visions, lucid dreams, daily psychic hits, and am great at interpreting their meanings. That part of life flows richly for me. Interpreting the visuals and messages was work. But the ability is there naturally flowing. Always has been.

Instead of looking for a category I fit in, or a job to do, I should have looked to my natural talents. For Clarity:

Talent is something you are born with, while skills are learned. One of my skills is making homemade soup. I was not born knowing how, I had to learn. Neither skill nor talent is better than the other, but it helps to know the difference.

— Patty Daley

My talents have been with me all my life, operating in the background, under my radar. They were such a natural part of me I ignored them. I was blind and could not see, as the saying goes. I thought my purpose had to be described as a job title: Mechanic, artist, electrician, RN, teacher, what have you. Nope. That line of thinking didn’t help me at all. Because I didn’t consider the use of my talents as my purpose and my path, I ended up searching in all the wrong places and made myself crazy.

To discover I’d been on my path all along was a revelation. Like Dorothy and those Ruby Slippers. For a long time my purpose and path were hidden from my own eyes. I have already made my path, my thing I love to do. I’ve done it all my life! I’m still doing it! Had I just looked at myself differently I could have seen it. The ‘shingle’ I hang out is not a visible one. I now think of my purpose and path as a way to be, not a goal with website, logo, and client list. I had struggled with this for years, and it evaporated in a moment of clarity. Yippee Yahoo! (Crazy Happy Dance time!)

Knowing your natural talents is gold! This is to be acknowledged, celebrated, realized, internalized, and is its own reward! Look to your natural talents and let them be your guide. Then it doesn’t matter what you do, that can take any form. Learn to recognize your talents and push them to serve yourself and others. Look for ways you have already been doing this and give yourself a pat on the back. Do a happy dance. You are your own path! 😉

Comments are welcome. “Likes” tell me someone is listening. Love and Light, ❤ Patty