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A Life Worth Living: How I Found My Purpose and Why I Believe You Can Too

Updated: Nov 24

When I was fourteen, I reached a place so dark that I didn’t want to keep living. My world felt unbearable. I didn’t feel seen, loved, or valued. I came from a dysfunctional family where pain seemed louder than peace, and I truly believed my life didn’t matter.


But something inside me — a small voice of faith — reminded me that taking my own life wasn’t the answer. That quiet belief kept me alive that night. I remember standing on a long, empty road, crying, angry, and lost. I didn’t know what my future would look like, but I made a decision: if I had to live, I was going to try to make my life mean something.


I started exploring who I was. I tried to find joy. At fourteen, I didn’t have it all figured out, but I knew one thing for sure — my life had a purpose, even if I didn’t understand it yet.

A group of friends share laughter while lying on a blanket outdoors, capturing a joyful moment of connection and carefree happiness.
As your purpose grows and changes, keep your support network close.

Discovering What Purpose Really Means

Back then, I thought purpose had to be something big — a dream career, a special talent, or a life that others admired. But now I know purpose isn’t about titles, money, or fame. It’s about adding a little good to a world that’s already carrying enough pain.


Your purpose might be as simple as making someone smile, paying for the person behind you at the coffee shop, helping someone carry their groceries, or holding a door open when their hands are full. Those little moments of kindness have the power to change someone’s day, and sometimes, their life.


I’ve learned that we don’t always see the ripple effect of our actions, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. If I can help even one person feel seen, understood, or less alone, then my life has meaning.


When Pain Became My Teacher

Years later, when I was diagnosed with cancer and told I had only a seventeen-percent chance of living five years, everything changed again. Facing mortality forces you to ask what really matters.


I realized I had spent decades collecting experiences, wisdom, and lessons that could help someone else, and I didn’t want that knowledge to die with me. So I opened my computer, pulled out my poetry, and decided to share it with the world.


That’s how my book Love and Heartache Moments was born. It’s a collection of poems about the raw, real parts of life, the kind of feelings we all have but don’t always talk about. When I published it, I thought, If even one person feels less alone because of this, then I’ve done something good with my time here.


And from there, I created this website, Surviving Life Lessons, as a space to keep sharing. I started writing more books, more blogs, and building communities where people could heal together. I realized that my purpose was right there in front of me — to use my life, my skills, and even my pain to help others find hope.


Learning Through Every Season

Looking back, I can see that every season of my life had a lesson. When I was young, my purpose was learning. Now, my purpose is teaching, encouraging, and transferring that knowledge to others.


I’ve always loved reading non-fiction books. I’ve always been curious. And all those years of reading, studying, and living have become the foundation for everything I do today. My career, my business degree, my computer skills, even the “life lectures” my kids used to roll their eyes at, they all built the tools I use now to make a difference.


That’s how life works. You gain knowledge, you share it. You learn something hard, you pass it on. You heal, and then you help someone else heal. That’s the real purpose behind all of it.


Rising Above the Lies

There were people throughout my life who told me I was worthless. They said I’d never amount to anything. They spoke ugliness into my mind until I believed it. For years, those words became my inner voice.


But they were wrong.


I crawled out of that hole one truth at a time. I realized that those words were lies and that the only voice that mattered was the one inside me saying, You were made for more.


If you’ve ever been told you don’t matter, hear me now: you do. You were created for a reason. There is something within you — a gift, a kindness, a story — that the world needs.


Purpose Isn’t Perfection

I’ve learned that purpose isn’t about living a perfect life. It’s about living an honest one. It’s not about having all the answers; it’s about being willing to keep learning and growing.


You don’t need to have money, fame, or a grand title to have meaning. Those things fade. They can leave you lonely, empty, or constantly striving for more. True fulfillment comes from love, compassion, and connection when you give your time, your attention, your kindness, and your heart.


Your life already matters simply because you’re here. Every day that you choose kindness over cruelty, hope over despair, love over anger — you’re living your purpose.


How Purpose Grows Over Time

Purpose isn’t one thing you find and keep forever. It grows with you.


When I was raising my kids, my purpose was to teach them, love them, and prepare them for the world. When I became a grandmother, my purpose expanded to sharing memories, laughter, and family meals. When I faced illness, my purpose became sharing my story to help others who were scared or hurting.


Every stage of life adds a new layer to your purpose. You may not see it clearly in the moment, but one day, it all fits together like a puzzle.


Passing the Torch

The older I get, the more I realize that our real legacy isn’t what we own, it’s what we give.

We pass on wisdom. We pass on kindness. We pass on hope. Those things live far longer than we do.


My “life lessons,” the same ones that once made my kids roll their eyes, are now the stories they share with others. That’s the beauty of living with purpose: what starts with one person becomes part of someone else’s strength.


If I can encourage even one person to stay when they want to give up, to believe in themselves again, or to see their life as valuable, then every hardship I’ve faced has been worth it.


Closing Reflection

Every person reading this has a reason to be here. You might not see it right now, but your life has meaning. You are part of something bigger — a web of kindness, learning, and love that connects us all.


Don’t believe the lie that you’re worthless or broken beyond repair. The fact that you’re still here means your story isn’t over.


Maybe your purpose is to bring laughter where there’s sorrow, to raise a child with compassion, to create something beautiful, or to simply live in a way that makes the world a little better.


Whatever your story looks like, it matters. You matter.


Support on Your Journey

If you’ve ever felt like life was too heavy, too broken, or too meaningless to keep going, please know you are not alone.


Join our Life Survivors Group to connect with people who have walked through pain and found healing and hope. Or visit Neighbor Chat to share encouragement with someone else who’s struggling to find their purpose.



You have something valuable to offer this world. Your kindness, your story, and your survival all have meaning. Keep sharing them. Keep living. Keep believing that your life — and every life — was created on purpose.



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