This post is part of the Resilient Film Blog Tour, which I am excited to be a part of along with many other inspiring bloggers. What I am about to share is based on my life experiences and I hope it inspires you to also be resilient and bounce back from any challenges that life may throw at you! To learn more and to join us as we tell the world just how resilient we really are, CLICK HERE!
It can be very easy to let a hard time keep you down, but you don’t have to stay there.
My Backstory |
In my experience, I’ve gotten so caught up in focusing on the problems rather than the solutions and it has been painful. However, hard times can also lead to eye opening moments and seasons of self discovery. I’ve found that most of the deepest lessons that I’ve learned about myself have come after and during a difficult life situation. I’ll share a couple of them with you…
My series of big life lessons began to materialize in 2014. Life appeared to be great! I was in my first serious relationship in 7 years with a guy who lived in the state that I had always dreamt of moving to eventually, and I had a regular 9-5 customer service job with benefits, earning the most I had earned since graduating from college in 2010. Everything finally seemed to be coming together for me during this time.
I’ll admit it… I Settled |
Although I had been working as a customer service representative at this corporate petroleum company for over a year, I was very unhappy. I had a steady income and later earned benefits, however, I had only gotten and kept this job because I didn’t know what I wanted for myself during that time. All I knew was that my parents wanted me to have a regular job, so I got one to appease them so they wouldn’t have to worry. At that time, pleasing them had been my idea of success, but in reality, I was settling.
Even as I was settling, I knew that I wanted something different. I knew that there wasn’t a career path for me at that corporate company that would leave me fulfilled and comfortable. I grew more miserable day after day and felt frustrated that I had to wake up every morning to work a 9-5 under someone else. These feelings grew unbearable because I had always known that I eventually wanted to work for myself. I knew that I was meant for more, but for one reason or another, I only saw it as a possibility in the far future. I personally didn’t know anyone who was doing what I thought I wanted to do. I wanted to monetize off of my idea of creating a blog that generated motivational content to uplift people. I also had not taken the time to dive deep and create a vision for my life. I always thought that it would create itself. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that I had ultimately allowed myself to stay stuck working that mundane job while I did a little bit of blog work here and there. The next thing I knew, on Wednesday July 30, 2014 I was fired.
Then… Depression Set In… |
Now, one would say it was a blessing in disguise and that God had removed that job so I could be forced on the track of my purpose, but of course I didn’t see it like that at first. I was devastated as I was gathering my belongings and clearing off my desk and embarrassed. I wasn’t embarrassed because I wanted to stay there, I was embarrassed because it was not on my terms and on my time. Not to mention, the reasoning that they gave me was full of B.S. However, ultimately, I wasn’t prepared and that scared the hell out of me.
Then came one of the hardest parts of that day, walking out of the building for the last time and realizing that yet again in my life, I was unemployed and unprepared and I had to find a way to tell my parents, who had always supported me. It was hard! And after crying for over an hour on the phone with sorority sisters who I had just gained through Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, just a month and 29 days before I felt some relief, as they were my safety net at just the right time in my life where I would generally feel as if I only had myself to talk to in that lonely moment.
As if things couldn’t get any worse my boyfriend had broken up with me just 3 months later. This was certainly a tipping point as I had been loading up on financial stresses, personal stresses, family stresses, and several other stresses that would follow in the year to come. Between then and the Summer of 2015 I had become so overwhelmed with my challenges that I broke down and entered into a depressive state. I experienced one of the saddest, most loneliest periods of my life and I fought like hell to climb out from day to day. It wasn’t until I was fortunate enough to begin talking with a counselor who later suggested that I speak to a therapist. This was a pivotal period of my life. My therapist had begun to help me work through the overwhelm that I had become a cloud over my kind hearted, loving spirit, leaving me frustrated, confused and defensive.
It Ain’t Over Until God Says it’s Over |
By God’s grace my life didn’t end there. Despite these challenges, I did not let my life challenges defeat me. I pulled myself up and made the decision to move forward. And in this same time period, because I was obedient to what God wanted for my life, I found a way to become still and focused and I discovered my God Given purpose after I began working with kids as a substitute teacher. Meditation held a huge role in that as I was able to gain true peace and clarity, something I never had before. It was through the stillness that I gained through meditation that I was able to listen intentionally to God’s direction for my life. And through my newfound clarity and discovery of my passion for teaching, I learned that I wanted to help young girls and women find peace and healing so they don’t keep making the same mistakes, as I have for many years. It ultimately became clear to me that I wanted to find a way to make mentoring a part of my entrepreneurial goals. And I began on my journey to do just that.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you found out why” ~Mark Twain
I always knew my purpose in life has been to help people, but when I learned that the capacity in which I could do that would be through education and mentorship my heart became fuller than it had ever been. I was finally able to come alive in everything that I did because I was finally able to start drawing the map towards my future and start writing goals to ensure that I began working diligently to fulfill my purpose. It was through my resilience, refusal to give up, and learning from my past experiences that I’ve been able to make it today. I have no doubt in my mind that you can too.
Aprille Franks-Hunt decided to create a powerful film about her personal story as a rape survivor in hopes to shed light on a personal topic that many are forced to suppress. (I was one of those women too). Aprille knows without a shadow of a doubt that this film has the power to change how women view themselves all over the world. We will not stand down – our voices will be heard! You can support the film here.
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