Today’s culture glamorizes aggressively people with great looks, smart personalities and brilliant skills. Of course, such glamorization is more a show than substance. In real-life, people are hardly ever as good as their promotional depictions portray.

Unfortunately, we compare ourselves with their depictions and feel acutely under-endowed. Of course, we all have limitations. And admitting them is integral to the experience of being human, of not being God. If, however, we obsess over those limitations, we unwittingly court inferiority complex, low self-esteem and depression.

Gita wisdom shows us a healthier picture of ourselves than does the contemporary culture. It informs us that we are all souls, parts of God, Krishna, who always loves us and who has gifted us with whatever we need for our spiritual evolution. And as we are essentially spiritual, our inner evolution is far more enduring and fulfilling than whatever we might have achieved if we had all the abilities that we feel we lack.

When we thus understand that the door to happiness is always open for us, our limitations stop burdening us. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (18.45) urges us to develop our abilities by declaring that we can worship the indwelling Lord through our work. Here, work refers to activities that correspond to our psychophysical nature. And this nature correlates closely with our set of gifts.  While going through our life, we can note those things that we feel comfortable doing and that we are competent in doing. Such comfort and competence point to our talents. By such devotionally-grounded self-discovery, we feel inspired to make the most of our gifts as an instrument of the divine.

When we thus focus on cherishing and channeling our abilities, we can get satisfaction both through our outer contribution in this world and our inner connection with our Lord.


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