Cool Uncle
I’m reading Like Streams to the Ocean by Jedidiah Jenkins. It is a book of essays, a solid collection of wise bits. It’s like your cool uncle sitting with you somewhere beautiful, in front of a waterfall (like the one on the cover), telling your younger self advice. Except Jenkins and I are probably around the same age, and where was this book when I was growing up?! And now I’m sad I never had a cool uncle.
Aside from all that, this line stood out to me, “The thing that injured you often becomes the piece of your purpose in life.”
I sat with this sentence for a while and let it shift and tilt around in my head; the thing that caused me pain can also give my life purpose--What a beautiful story of redemption. It’s the woman who survived sexual and domestic abuse turning into a speaker and advocates for change, or the guy who lost his dad to ALS starting a charity to fight this mysterious disease. Now it’s your turn:
What thing injured you? How is it shaping your life? Write about your story, your beauty from ashes, your pain to purpose.