In the January 2026 issue of Lion’s Roar, Jack Kornfield shares a concept from the Dagara people of West Africa:

The Dagara believe that everyone is born carrying a certain kind of cargo. That cargo is specific to each one of us and our job while we’re here is to deliver that cargo into the world. “A good spiritual education and wise community help us discover our cargo––our gift, what we have to bring this world––and then help us find a way to deliver it.”

Accepting my gift and using it to engage positively in community has helped reduce my distress in our current environment. I am still concerned, but I now have a more neutral to positive perspective: I feel reassured that I was born into this time and place for a reason. I believe that you have been, too.

It’s a good time to identify and deliver your gift. What it is? How can you use it?