How Hitting Rock Bottom Taught Me to Align With My Purpose

Can you relate to your struggles becoming your story?

I know many of you who will read this and agree because everyone has a unique story to tell.

Most Women do!

I have learned that life teaches us lessons through every challenge we face. Have you ever thought that whatever you share can and will inspire others going through something similar?

I believe when you cross someone’s path, you are passing that path for a reason, for a purpose and depending upon the conversation you may have with them, there is always something you could share from your experience that may be relevant to another that could possibly help them as you share.

Well, today, I want to share how hitting rock bottom taught me an invaluable lesson about myself and led me to my purpose.

There was a time in my life when I would just get up in the morning, and it felt like a battle.

I would wake up, stare at the ceiling and wonder. “What is the point?

During that time of my life, I was unemployed, searching and looking for work, and it became hard to find what I was looking for. I would think to myself, “I’m not getting hired for the job I desired …What am I doing wrong?”

But when I did get a job (finally), it didn’t quite fulfill me either. That’s when my mind would drift off into thinking in terms of finances.

“What was the whole point of paying all that money for college? To only have to pay it back with interest!”

To tell you the truth, I felt like I was drifting aimlessly. I blamed myself for being jobless and hating the fact that I was clueless and unable to find the passion or purpose everyone else seemed to have.

But while feeling directionless, I realized this thought of trying to figure out life had followed me from my high school days to my adulthood. I never really knew what I wanted to do, and I never had anyone help point me in the right direction.

Maybe it wasn’t being jobless in my early 30s or my circumstances holding me back. Maybe it really was me self-sabotaging myself. I spent so much time looking for answers externally from a career standpoint that I had forgotten to look inward to the positive things I thought of myself and life.

That’s when my soul-searching journey truly took off. Taking the time to dig deep into becoming aware of who I am. Like way back then in my teenage years, I would have never imagined that mentorship could be the starting point to lead me down the right path.

When I began participating and answering thought-provoking questions within the mentorship program, I attended. I never knew that finding my purpose was closer than I thought.

That was when it hit me, I had a paradigm shift, you know, a -ah ah moment of how I should be looking at life and the things I wasn’t doing to get the fulfillment and satisfaction I desire and deserve.

Aligning myself to finding my purpose was a bit of a challenge at first, I’m not going to lie, because, at that time in my life, I was already married and had my firstborn son.

It was challenging because my time had to be evenly distributed between my “me time,” my husband, and my kids. Pressing into discovering my true self meant I had to contend with time.

I couldn’t describe what the feeling was back then, but I pulled through for my future self and made the decision to continue the journey no matter what.

I knew I needed to move from feeling lost, confused and stuck to gaining clarity with a solid direction, which in turn gave me more confidence and empowered me to move forward.

It still is the most rewarding journey I’ve ever taken.

Now I can say, I learned a great deal about myself, why I do the things I do and where I could improve along the way.

***Purpose is not something you find*** and then do nothing about it. It’s something you build from within, one step at a time. One thought at a time, one idea at a time.

Finding purpose is asking yourself thought-provoking questions that only you can answer to the core of your being (your mind). Some may say it is just out there somewhere, but truthfully, it is hidden within, specifically in your thoughts.

You see, you already have everything you need to fulfill this task of finding it.

Those thought-provoking questions help draw it out and give you that push forward. But there is one thing I do want to suggest: Purpose is not only found in what you think you love, but can be revealed through things that may irritate you.

I don’t know if you know this, but Irritation or Anger is a powerful clue to expose your purpose. These emotions can point to something you deeply care about.

Think about this for a moment: If you are angry or irritated about something, it is usually because it violates your beliefs, values, or your vision of hope for the future or the world around you.

Reflecting on what triggers these feelings helps identify areas where you want to make changes or contribute ideas for solutions.

For example:

• For me, remaining ignorant about life used to frustrate me. That’s why I strongly believe my purpose is rooted in gaining awareness to share that knowledge, educate and empower others.
• If you feel upset about injustice, you might be called to advocate for fairness.
• If inefficiency irritates you, you might be passionate about improving systems.

This is where I believe these emotions are not just frustrations; they are *powerful indicators* guiding you toward what truly matters to you.

Just remember, your purpose is to identify the original, unique ideas that identify you, and it fills in that inner emptiness.

It gives direction to the directionless and an aim to the aimless. Most of all, Purpose also protects you from wasting your precious time on the wrong things.

Wherever purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable — Dr. Myles Munroe

So If you’re in a place of uncertainty right now, hear me out: hitting rock bottom doesn’t mean you’re failing or you’re not good enough; it’s an invitation to first rebuild yourself in a way that aligns with your true self and second, it’s finding that intent (purpose) that will make your heart sing.

As I said before, I learned a lot of new things about myself while I journaled, meditated and answered those hard questions that no one had ever asked me until I took the time for myself to figure that out. So here’s your chance!

The paradigm shift starts with these 5 questions:

1. How often do you feel lost in finding direction and purpose?

2. When it comes to life in general, do you feel stuck and frustrated?

3. What’s one thing about personal growth you wish someone had told you sooner?

For example, finish this statement: I wish someone had told me sooner about…”

4. When it comes to your past life decisions, do you wish you had done something differently?

5. Have you constantly changed your vocation/career because of a lack of finding and/or feeling fulfilled?

If anything I wrote resonates with you, feel free to share your thoughts or respond to the questions — I’ll be reading and clapping your response.

Check out this full blog post here. Looking for more? Click here for the Purpose Indicator Questions worksheet to get started today.