Tragedy Can Be a Changer

Very recently, someone close to me lost someone they loved. It is still so new, so raw, so painful. It was something that happened in such a sudden fashion that it still feels so very unreal. This sort of loss is one that leaves you in a daze, confused, unsure of where reality starts and surrealism begins. It is the kind that, even though it affects you indirectly, makes your soul feel as if it’s been assaulted. When it happens to someone you care about, their pain is almost tangible. You see it, you feel it, you hear it. It is the kind that causes you to feel helpless, because you want to fix it, and you can’t. It is also the kind that makes you evaluate your own path.

When loss occurs, especially when it’s indirect, it is a sharp reminder of your own mortality. For many of us, we begin to ponder our purpose in life, our choices, and how we spend our day to day. Things we’ve been putting off suddenly become more important, and for a while, we function as if it can all end tomorrow. But unfortunately, just as suddenly as the need for change has hit us, it wanes. Or maybe, it’s not an abrupt cessation, but more of a gradual process of not giving a you-know-what until we’re back in the same space we were before the loss occurred. The important question that we should be left with is, how do we sustain that can-do, get-shit-done attitude and REALLY change our lives?

It all boils down to planning and being intentional in your purpose and desires. What is it that you really want out of life? If someone handed you millions of dollars and told you to go live out your purpose, what would that look like for you? For me personally, it would include donating a large portion of that money that was handed to me, so it could benefit those in need. I find my joy in purpose in doing for others, in supporting the dreams and goals of those who need that help. In essence, my dream is to assist others in reaching their’s. I love when I feel inspired to write something in my otherwise dormant blog (sorry guys), and just ONE person reaches out to tell me that it resonated with them. If I only always reach one person with my words, I still feel accomplished. So ask yourself a second question – what can you do to make you feel accomplished? What does success look like for you? If you can come up with the answers to those questions, you can come up with the basis of a plan to get you to that point. Don’t wait until something tragic happens to jump-start you, because depending on the tragedy, it may be too late to start.