My first standing ovation happened about a year ago. Although it wasn’t in a huge arena in front of thousands of admirers, this audience was just as important. They were the residents at my mother’s assisted living home and honestly, only a few of them could stand.  But everytime I walk into the puzzle room of her assisted living home, I’m met with a roaring applause, huge smiles, and loud cheers, because they know that I’ll be able to quickly help them overcome any blocks they have in the puzzle they’re currently working on and get A LOT of it done. They say I have an “eagle eye”.

When I look back on my life, I believe I’ve had this eagle eye since I was a toddler. My family would praise me when I could find lost objects in low places like in the shag carpet or front lawn. When our turtle went missing, it was my three year old eagle eyes that found him under the sofa, and I was so proud! As I grew older, my family would always hand ME the Highlights Magazine flipped to the hidden pictures page frustrated when they couldn’t find the missing objects. I could easily find the saxophone buried in the bark of the tree, or ANY other object.  I truly LOVE problem-solving and seeing details that others don’t see! So when I discovered my first jigsaw puzzle at the tender age of five years old – I was TOTALLY ENAMOURED with figuring out where each piece should go. It was a real work-out for my 5-yr old brain, but I LOVED it! As a matter of fact, since then, I’ve even created a system where I can quickly put together any jigsaw puzzle in 5 easy steps!

In eleventh grade, my math teacher saw the problem-solving potential in me, and he suggested that I take a certain class in my senior year to make the most of this skill, and I agreed. Little did I know that when I signed up to take my very first computer class, my life would change. It didn’t take long for me to discover that my God-given gifts of having an eagle eye and loving to solve problems fit perfectly in the field of computer science and my life’s path was uncovered.

In this digital world, it’s important to be computer literate, and to understand and speak the language of technology.  For me, it’s as easy as speaking English. But do you know what really breaks my heart? It’s the thousands of people struggling when they try to learn the mechanics of computer systems and automations when it’s not their gift. And when I see people being blocked from moving forward in sharing THEIR God-given gifts because of technology, my purpose becomes all the more clear. 

We’ve all been handed a puzzle in life of what our purpose is. We get to figure it out.  What is YOUR Gift, that you’ve known since you were young? Are you sharing your gift in the world, or is something holding you back?  My wish is to inspire you to use your gifts TODAY for your career, for your pleasure, and for bringing joy, health, or fulfillment to others, and to not let anything block you from getting your gift out there in the world.