What Is Your “Why”?
“Believe in Your Heart
Believe in your heart that you’re meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.”
In April of this year, I received a call from my boss that I was getting laid off in 30days because of Covid-19. I was not shocked when I received the phone call, I felt it coming.
I grew up being taught that a degree and steady job were my ultimate goals. That a woman in this world, should always be in her books, so no man can try to one up her, or control her. Well I was now at home with no job and not even one in sight because of the current economic situation. I was devastated! I felt like a failure.
My husband has been the most supportive person while I was going through my “shame”. I was looking for my purpose, my passion, my “Why do I do what I do”, because I needed to break free from this generational idea that I was living in. Sometimes people want the best for you while projecting their dreams on you. I did not want to live someone else’s dream, I wanted to live my own.
What is your Why? What is your purpose ? What is your passion ?
Picture by The Brand Photography
Those questions were spinning in my head for couple months, and it was a journey to find my answer.
While on a road trip with the hubby, I found myself enjoying life. I was doing something that excited me: visiting places. We had conversations with couple elders about what they regretted not doing when they were younger. Their responses were almost identical. They wanted to do everything that people told them they couldn’t do. They were living for others that already made their path, not for them to find their own. A bell rang in my head: that was my breakthrough.
My purpose has been to help others see that they can do anything if they are really passionate about it. I have started painting because I remembered the afterschool painting sessions with my grandmother when I was 5. I went back to writing, because of the days I would write poems for my friends for their girlfriend/boyfriend. Also, I went back to cooking, because I remembered the Sundays morning of my family eating a breakfast that I cooked up myself and I wanted to experience that joy with my husband. I did stop doing all of those things mentioned above because I was told it wouldn’t “help” me in the future; that having a master degree or PhD would be the best thing I could do for my future.
Covid has been the break that I needed to find myself. Now that I have found my purpose, I have been less stressed, sad, and unsatisfied with my life. Getting up every morning has been a breeze, and going through my day has been exciting. I have seen my sisters follow their dreams, and seeing them smile more than they used to has been amazing. I know that many other people would feel way better if they found their “why” like I found mine.