Purpose

On Friday, I had the pleasure of being at the right place at the right time.  A young lady was passed out in our parking lot, in what was a suicide attempt, I was able to find out later.  She had taken an overdose of prescription pills and decided to lay in her car while the med kicked in, but God had another purpose for her.  I was told that she had been experiencing problems in her marriage and at work which lead to the attempt.  Whatever the rhyme, or reason, I quickly sprung into action, assessing the situation and making sure that her airway was open and she had a pulse, all the while thinking, "Lady please don't die in front of me!! Its Friday!"  Thankfully, she is doing better, but was on a ventilator/respirator, in ICU, and much more medical mayhem. 

Often times we don't think that our lives have a purpose when we are going through what seems like the struggle of a lifetime, but it is when we are released from the stronghold of thinking that we are struggling is when we are able to witness to someone else and encourage them to make it via our strength to keep going.

I have spoken at various venues over the past 11 years and never thought twice about how telling my story impacts the audience.  It wasn't until recently when I spoke at University of Richmond, that I realized the strength and power of my story to help someone else make it through. 

That day was a rough day for me, I had to wake up early to catch two buses (I thankfully have a car now), I only had $5 in my pocket, of which my son asked for $3 so he could eat school lunch for the day, I wasn't feeling well (my favorite twin sisters, Nausea and Diarrhea, decided to show up and show out) and I was the epitome of The Color Purple scene at the Thanksgiving table,..."Sophia was feeling mighty low", but through it all, standing in front of those 40 or so students advising them to make healthy, wise decisions in every facet of their lives, made me see that my daily living was an inspiration to many for so many reasons that I couldn't think of them all.  It gave me a moment to say to myself, "keep on keeping on, because someone else needs to see your strength".  What a powerful and stunning statement!

Several of the students approached me afterwards in tears and cautiously mentioned how some of their past actions may have put them at risk for more adversity than necessary in their life, but through receiving a good dose of reality, and the realization that it is OK to make a mistake as long as you learned something in the process (good or bad), they felt is was one of the best lectures they had ever received.  

I don't think that I have ever thought of my illness as a mistake in a negative sense, but more of the realization that crap happens, and it is how we come out on the other side smelling like a bed of roses when get through it that matters.  So today I encourage you to go out and experience life no matter your situation or struggle because at the end of the day you will be victorious since nothing beats a failure, but a try and you may be the inspiration for someone else to keep moving forward.

-Have a Positively Great day!!!!

I have to add, that I know it is not me that makes it alone, but the power and strength God gives me daily by just having one more day to be in the service:)