Purpose? What is your purpose in life? Some folks find it right away and are lucky enough to live it out early in their lives. Others find it later in life and may feel like it’s too late to fulfill it. There may be some like me who found it pretty early on but then were discouraged to follow it.
Some folks think that finding their purpose in life is going to hit them like a huge ton of bricks. Like the sky is going to open up and all of a sudden tell them their purpose. That may be the case for some but for most of us, I think it happens in the subtle moments in life. I also believe that a lot of people think if their purpose isn’t something massive, then it’s not a purpose at all. Not everyone’s purpose is going to be “Oprah” big. Some people’s purpose may be to be a parent. They are AWESOME parents and may end up parenting more than just their children. For some folks, it may be cooking. They may never own a restaurant but they’re cooking for their friends and family, and it makes them happy. They may be called on to cook for all the family events. So don’t be discouraged if you haven’t found your purpose or if you have and you think it should be more. You never know who you’ll impact.
I found my purpose on accident. My mom passed away my Senior year of high school. My favorite teacher in high school, who was also my basketball coach, gave me a journal. She told me to just write all my feelings in it as I go thru my grieving period. I took that journal with me to college. I started all my entries with “Hi Mom.” I talked to my mom in that journal, and I felt so free, so alive writing in that journal. At the time, I thought I was just releasing emotions, but I was really finding the path to ME! I didn’t do much with that information. I just kept writing in my journal as the years went along.
Fast forward a few years and I wrote my husband a letter. I wrote a lot of letters to him in our early years because I didn’t feel like I was being heard so I would write because I felt like I could get out my feelings without being interrupted. My husband told me then that I should write. I didn’t really pay much attention to him. I just thought he was being a sweet husband. He continued to tell me that over the years, but I just never listened. Never noticed writing being my purpose.
There were a couple times throughout my life that I thought maybe I really should be writing. I can remember starting one of my books and letting a really good friend read it. She said, “I know how the story ends and I want to read the story. Hurry up and finish the book.” I thought to myself then, hmmmm maybe I can do this writing thing. I still didn’t move forward with it because I let life get in my way and I let others discourage me. I remember someone really close to me made a negative comment about me writing. As I stated, I would write letters to my husband early on. Well, I also wrote them to others when I wanted to express myself. Well one day at an event, a family member made the comment, “Well you better not say anything to Toniece otherwise she’ll write you a letter.” Everybody around laughed and it was at that moment right there that I vowed never to write again. It was also at that moment that I knew writing was my purpose because I was so upset about not being able to write. I never wrote another letter after that. I kept a lot of my feelings and thoughts to myself. I didn’t go silent because I would still say my peace, but it wasn’t nearly like it had been before when I expressed myself through my writing.
Over the years, I slowly started writing again in my journals. It helped that I moved away from home. Sometimes family can be harder on you and your dreams than strangers. But once we moved away, I felt a little freer to start writing again. I didn’t have to worry about negative comments. Not that I didn’t accept or even want criticism but there’s a difference between being criticized and being mocked. I didn’t want to be ridiculed about something that meant so much to me.
As I started writing again, I started sharing my entries. Then Facebook came along, and I found a new forum to share some of my thoughts. It was then when I got so much positive feedback that I knew it was “safe” for me to start living my purpose. I knew then I could get back to doing what I loved to do and that was express myself through writing and tell my stories.
It’s funny because now that I’ve made up my mind that this is what I’m going to do, that I’m going to live in my purpose, this SAME family member made a comment about my writing. This time they said something about me having a limit to what I could write or being long winded. It was something like that. I don’t even remember because this time, I let that person’s words go in one ear and out the other. This time I’m not going to let anyone discourage me from my purpose. I love to write. I love to express myself. It doesn’t even bother me if anybody else reads it or not. I just love the fact that I get to release all these emotions, thoughts, and ideas.
So, I encourage you to LIVE your purpose. If you haven’t found it yet, pray on it, manifest whatever it is that you genuinely love to do and do it! DO NOT let anybody stop you! People are going to talk. They will try and hate on your progress and ideas. Let them. What I’ve found is the ones doing the most talking are doing so because they haven’t found their own purpose. If they had, they wouldn’t have time to try and discourage you about yours!
Be safe, be blessed and be a blessing!
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