Finding Your Purpose: Personal Experience

Although I'm young, I've had some experiences that have caused me to think about what my true purpose is in life. Coming in contact with different people and having different opportunities has allowed me to narrow down what I'm truly meant to do.

For the first two years of my college life at SC State University, I was a member of the women's basketball team. It was definitely a great experience, that brought both rewards, but also some challenges in which I learned some great lessons. Those lessons have allowed me to begin to identify who I truly am and what my purpose truly is apart from basketball.

Facing a New Perspective in Life

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."-Philippians 3:13-14.

For much of my life I found a lot of my identity in basketball. I picked it up at a very young age and I come from a basketball family, so I've been pretty much surrounded by it 24/7. It wasn't until I got to college that I had the realization that I was using this gift of mine as a shield. When you enter the realm of college sports, there's this lingering stereotype that you're either smart or really good at your sport. School has always been important to me, but I now found myself allowing basketball to take control of all of my focus in my life. Since it became too much of a focus, the Lord saw it fit to take it away because it was ultimately going to hinder me from understanding my true purpose.

What Now?

I was left in a situation where I was forced to let go. My relationship with my coaches seemed to be at a standstill at the end of my sophmore year, and I was left with the question of whether this is something I really felt the need to hold onto at the expense of my mental health. It was now time for me to really focus on what God was trying to tell me through this situation as opposed to just being sad and frustrated that I'm experiencing it.

Moving Forward

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."-Psalm 32:8

Since I now was left with the realization that this one thing that I knew for so long was being slowly taken away, I had to face the fact that it was time for me to grow up. Yes, I still very much love basketball, but it was beginning to become an identity that the Lord did not intend for me to have. So I found myself thinking what next. In this thought process I came back to the realization of why I chose the career that I chose. I'm currently a Biology major and I'm studying to become a Pediatrician, because throughout my life I've always liked to help others and I've always had a special connection with children, so being able to help both has always been my dream. But since that takes time to achieve, I felt that I needed to be proactive and find a way to help someone now as I'm helping myself. I wanted to start this blog to touch someone, whether that person be going through a story similar to mine or completely different. Whatever may be going on, don't be discouraged when familiarity is stripped away for the discovery of purpose. The Lord reveals our purpose when we're the most uncomfortable.

Encouragement

Change is uncomfortable, that fact has been known for many years, but the real question is what are you going to do with this known discomfort. You have to embrace it and allow different phases in your life to come and go as the Lord allows. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."