For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to “help people”.  And for almost that long, I wanted to a pediatrician while adamantly avowing that I would never become a nurse or a lawyer, thank you very much.  So much for plans.  With a Juris Doctor and Registered Nurse behind my name, I became the two things I never declared I would be.

Now, at an introspective crossroad where I am re-purposing my professional and personal experience into something bigger than me, the resounding answer to the question still remains:  “to help people”.

And while the skill that I can use to best help people is my own life’s experience with limb loss, I recognize that that is my greatest attribute, my greatest credential, my greatest achievement.  Finally, I take delight in the challenge of re-inventing myself into the person I always wanted to be: A person who makes a difference.  A person whose contributions matter to others.  A peson I always thought I would be.

Not knowing how that will actually manifest itself, I do know that I will not be one of the many present day reality “stars” who make money from publishing coffee-table books of their own selfies or are simply famous, for being famous. Nor will I be that people take pity upon.

So, when talking to a friend about finding my purpose, he said:

“The objective perspectives of others, I think, is more about illumination vs. inspiration. Everyone is broken, some of us more so than others. We are just so confronted with a lack of enlightenment by so many people our paths cross that we get lost inside ourselves sometimes, worn down by the constant barrage of it all.

Each of us has something to overcome on our path to inner peace and happiness. Perhaps because people can more visibly see one obstacle you have overcome that you illuminate or shed light on folks who find themselves in darkness that they too begin to believe they can achieve and overcome their circumstances.

We can all act as spirit guides of some sort if we choose and we make a choice with every interaction we have with every person we touch every day.”

It’s time to become what I have always thought I’d be.