Giftocracy

INTRODUCTION

YOUR GIFT IS WRAPPED. ARE YOU READY TO UNWRAP IT?

Giftocracy

noun, giftocracy: A system of governance in which our innate gifts are illuminated on the path to our purpose.

Not too long ago, I heard Dr. Myles Munroe tell a powerful story that illustrates the essence of Giftocracy:

There once was a homeless man, sleeping on the street under a bridge, with an old cardboard box as his only shelter. Most days were spent hiding from the harsh reality and bitter cold of his existence. He begged for scraps and lived on others' charity. You could literally smell him from quite a distance.

One day, a fine gentleman in an exquisite limousine pulled up to a homeless camp and asked whether they knew a certain man he was seeking. "Yes," one of them replied. "He has been living with us on the streets for the past twenty-five years. He lives just a few blocks away from here." Joy filled the heart of the gentleman as he thought of uniting with that man. He quickly returned to his limousine and drove the few blocks in the direction the homeless man had pointed.

He soon found a group of men sitting together and walked over to them. Kneeling down in his fine suit, with little care as to the conditions he was in, he said the man's name, hoping that he was there. A man looked up from the group, squinting into the sun toward the voice. He looked so old-face and soul weathered by the hard life he'd lived-but he was barely forty-five.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"No," replied the gentleman. "But I know you. I am your family-your uncle."

"I have no family," the man retorted. "I am alone in the world, and have been all my life."

"No," said the uncle. "I have come to bring you home."

"But this is my home," said the man.

"No, no. I want to take you home. I am all that is left of your family, but before your father passed away, he gave me something very special to give to you. I have searched far and wide and am so overjoyed to have found you! Please come home with me." The uncle pulled out a large envelope and held it out for the man. The man could not fully comprehend what the gentleman was saying and repeated that he had no family and that he belonged here, on the streets with his friends.

The uncle was greatly saddened as he looked at the surroundings and the poverty in which this man lived. He tried several more times to convince his nephew to come home, but the homeless man insisted he stay. He was happy here with his friends.

Finally, the uncle made one last plea: "I cannot force you to come back with me, but I will leave this envelope with you." As the uncle walked away, tears stained his eyes. He felt the loss like a weight tugging at his heart.

Strange as it seems, the homeless man cherished the envelope. He looked at it every day, relishing the fact that he was given a gift, a gift with his name on it. He would even show his friends this precious gift-but it remained unopened.

Many years later the homeless man died, still hugging the precious, unopened envelope. The envelope was taken off his body and handed over to an estate lawyer. Because the homeless man never opened the gift, he did not know that the envelope contained a deed to a multimillion-dollar estate and shares in the company his father had built. They were now all in his name. But since there was no one to claim ownership-the uncle had long since passed-the fortune was given to the state and it became government property. The homeless man had such an amazing future ahead of him, and such potential. But he died, never opening the gift.

This is a perfect illustration of our human condition. We are all born with tremendous gifts and potential, yet most people never "open" their gifts. Some do open their gifts for a time, but they lose touch with their potential as life beats them down and they experience adversity.

As a result, many people fail to connect with their passions and natural abilities, and consequently, their full potential is never realized. In essence, many people don't know who they really are. They don't know what they're capable of achieving. They never bothered to acknowledge a dream, much less chase it.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Life doesn't have to be an obstacle to merely overcome. When we wake up to a new day, we don't have to wonder how quickly we can get through it. We don't have to spend years-decades even-rehearsing the same questions in our minds: Is this what I should be doing with my life? When will I finally be happy?

My purpose in writing Giftocracy is not to help people appreciate that each human is a gift to the world (although they are), but to prove that each human has a gift trapped within, yearning to be experienced and shared.

Every human-no matter the country, century, or culture of birth-was born with his gift built into him. God, in His infinite wisdom, designed everything with its purpose already determined: A fish, for example, was created to swim. The ability and desire to swim is built into the fish. It never needs to attend swimming lessons. Similarly, a bird was created to fly. Flying is its nature. Likewise, a seed is planted in the ground with its future-a flower, a large oak tree, or a tomato vine-already inside of it.

Whatever we were created to be is already trapped inside of us, where we cannot miss it. The problem is that we spend our days looking everywhere else to find it.

One of the challenges we face (and the reason most people never discover their greatness) is because they are looking for their gift outside of them-in their environment. And think about how many people are stuck in the wrong environment? Environment is everything. Don't believe me? Think about the expression, "He's like a fish out of water." It means he's failing at whatever he's doing because he's been taken out of the only environment where he can succeed.

I have had the privilege of traveling extensively during my time as a professional soccer player, and later while coaching and working with youth. From the villages of Ghana to beautiful Santa Barbara, California, I have met people young and old who are desperately trying to find meaning and purpose but who don't know where to start.

I've seen young people who have been steered away from their unique gifts and encouraged by well-meaning people to follow a more traditional road. While a more traditional road may be popular, financially lucrative, or "acceptable" to our families, if the road does not embrace our gifts, the gift remains unrealized.

On the flip side, I have also witnessed the opposite. I've been in awe of people who have not only stepped into their gifts, but are also making an impact on our world every day. They have made it their mission to do good work that inspires others to do the same. Some of these people came from wealthy backgrounds, from families who encouraged them to use their gifts and succeed. Some of them came from poverty, from broken families, or from circumstances that provided little hope of a better life. What I'm saying is that purpose is not reserved for only the wealthy to discover.

When you are born in an environment of poverty where obtaining even the basics (like food and water) are a daily struggle, you find ways to distract yourself from your problems. Growing up in a small village in Ghana, my parents didn't have money to buy me lots of toys or videos games, but one day they did get me a soccer ball.

My first encounter with a soccer ball sparked something in me. I fell in love with it instantly and soon realized I was able to do things with a soccer ball that other children couldn't. Soccer came naturally to me.

When I played with the other kids in my village, everybody wanted me to be on their team because I was the best player. When I was dribbling a ball among ten other boys on a dirt field, that's when I felt like my most true self. Playing soccer, I was in an environment where I thrived-and I didn't want to be anywhere else.

When I played with my friends, I would often, without thinking, miss lunch and dinner. My parents had to come find me. In fact, my love of that environment got me into a lot of trouble at one point as a child! Still, I found my gift at an early age and was determined to use it, not knowing how far it would take me, but knowing I loved it and was willing to work at it. That determination took my mind off of my hungry stomach and trouble at home. Determination singularly refocused me from what was to what could be.

Even a child can develop the ability to overcome adversity when they are convinced they have found something that can make their lives significant. When you have a clear vision for your life, adversity simply becomes a test of your resolve-it cannot stop you. That's why visualizing dreams of the life we want is so important.

In my case, when I was living in my village in Odumaseh, Ghana, I dreamed that one day I would be traveling and playing soccer for European powerhouse Manchester United Football Club. Yes, it sounded impossible, looking at my circumstances. Yet that dream and vision literally guided my every decision- and it lead me across the world, right onto the soccer field for my first professional match...