Why am I here? A question that has plagued mankind (and womankind alike) for years. What is my purpose? What was I sent into this world to accomplish? All normal questions that many of us tend to ask ourselves, and one in which I became truly determined to answer.
When I “discovered” my purpose, I didn't have this grand prophecy or major 'aha' moment that clicked in my mind. No defining conversation with God or myself that provided me with a clear depiction of my life’s plan. Over time I found that while I was busy seeking what my purpose was, the passion within me had already confirmed it; I simply kept overlooking it in search of something else. As a child, I just KNEW that I wanted to be a teacher or a psychologist. I was the teacher's pet and favorite classroom helper that got on everybody's nerves. From an early age, helping others was something that I absolutely loved to do. This continued throughout my teenage and young adult years when I went to college. I loved that my friends sought me out for advice or that classmates would seek my insight on a topic which confirmed that I was on the path to life’s calling…or so I thought. I pursued my undergrad degree in Psychology because of course, if I was going to be a Psychologist, that was what I had to do. However, the more classes I took and the more I understood the number of years of schooling it would take to reach that goal, a shift occurred, and that career aspiration went out the window.
Over the years, my career goals went from one end of the spectrum to the other as I began to dabble in some of life’s experiences. I wanted to open a daycare, then later considered returning to school to become a social worker. I co-launched a community service initiative geared towards feeding the homeless, which ultimately led to me wanting to start a non-profit. As you can probably begin to tell here, my underlying ‘why’ was always the same regardless of the field or the industry that I was looking to break into. I simply wanted to build a career doing what I am passionate about, which is helping others and making a difference. I wanted to be able to do these things while also being able to provide a comfortable life for my child. After years in customer service, I randomly stumbled across a degree program at a local university and made the decision to pursue a master’s degree. Now, what I would do with it once I got it still had yet to be determined. It was through this program that I found yet another avenue that would allow me to help others on a larger scale but could potentially yield a lucrative future. I took that avenue and while my current professional role gives me the opportunity to impact lives daily, something still seemed to be missing.
When dealing with life and all that comes with it, one method that was proven to aid in maintaining my sanity was writing. Various forms of writing became my outlet for putting all the thoughts in my head (which are more than I care to elaborate on) and putting them down on paper, or this case, a keyboard. One of my best friends launched a blog featuring herself and 3 other writers and I soon was pulled on the team as an editor. From editing to guest blogging to becoming a permanent blogger on the team, it became evident that I finally had a platform to share my insight and perspective with the masses. The feedback received was so great that we then turned our writings into an online radio show, which granted us an even larger audience. To have people (some who knew me offline and some who were complete strangers in other cities/states), tell me that something I said or wrote inspired or motivated them generated such a high for me. Over time, our momentum slowed, and life/kids/work began to get in the way and eventually we discontinued the show, but that high was something that I couldn’t get rid of. Thereafter, I was able to have 2 blogs featured on a national website (for men coincidentally enough), which went on to be published on a blog in Australia *insert annoying squeals of elation here*. I knew that I had a gift that I couldn’t continue to sit on.
Several people have asked me what led up to the site being created. As I mentioned in my last post, I played with the idea of launching my own blog for quite some time. I had come up with various approaches that I wanted to take but nothing seemed to stick. What would my focus be? What goal did I want to achieve with it? What impact did I want to make? As I went through the devastating time of “preparing” to lose my father, writing became my coping mechanism. I whipped out my laptop and simply began typing the words that I couldn’t find to say aloud, as well as the feelings that I was experiencing that I didn't care to burden anyone with. It was a sunny day in August 2017 where I sat in my backyard and made the decision that I was going to finally create my website. My site would feature my own life experiences and that of others with hopes that it would be able to help someone else. This was the birth of ‘One Life to Inspire’.
I didn’t have the slightest idea as to how to build a site nor was I interested in paying anyone to do it for me, so I did what any normal, clueless person would do…I asked Google. I began working on the site in August 2017 and here we are in February 2019 and the idea that started as just that, has now come to life and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with the world. Delay after delay and excuse after excuse, I let this yearning remain unfulfilled. I want to say thank you to every single soul who pushed me out of my own way. That push made me follow through on a promise that I made to myself and to my dad. I promised that I would build a legacy based upon the principles he instilled in me and I promised to always make him proud. I promised that I would leave a lasting impact on those I encountered just as he had always done. So thank you to each and every person who takes the time to visit my site. My only hope is that you leave better than you came.
What is YOUR purpose here? What permanent mark will YOU leave on this world?
Although you may not currently know the answer to this or understand what exactly you were sent here to do, the answer lies in following your heart and using that calling to impact others. Whether you want to be a chef who creates food to nourish people's bodies; a songwriter who creates music that speaks to people's souls; or a photographer who wants to capture moments for others that create lifelong memories; find your passion,determine your why, and get to work.
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