Discovering Purpose: Overcoming Life's Setbacks and Changing The World

Are you feeling stuck or overwhelmed by life's challenges? You're not alone. I, Shaniqua, have been there, battling the same hurdles, relentlessly seeking a purpose in life. This episode of Free Concepts will not only motivate you to discover your purpose, but also guide you on how to overcome life's setbacks. I share my personal journey of finding light in the darkness, learning from past mistakes and breaking free from the shackles of societal expectations. 

This episode is a testament to the power of free will and the beautiful outcomes of perseverance. I'll walk you through my journey, sharing stories and real-life examples to illustrate the concept of being pulled back in order to leap forward. By acknowledging the light within us, we can inspire others and become a beacon of hope. In the midst of the dialogue, we'll pause to explore how our pasts and the opinions of others do not define our true selves. It's our actions and our relationship with God that truly matter. So, join me for a conversation that could potentially reshape your perspective on life's purpose. And remember, you are an arrow ready to launch forward, not backwards. Don't let the world change you; you are destined to change the world.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Free Concepts everyone. I am your host, shaniqua. It's such a pleasure to have you listening. It's an honor. Thank you so much for your time. I definitely don't take it for granted.

Speaker 1: 0:14

Today's topic is purpose. We're going to go ahead and jump right in, but before we jump in, we're going to go ahead and start off with prayer. Follow God in the name of Jesus. I thank you, god, for all things. I ask that you give me the words to speak to your people, to our listeners, that they have an open heart, open mind, to be able to receive whatever it is that you have for them, to bless them in such a way, god, that will change their lives for the better. And, god, I thank you for your grace, your mercy, your forgiveness and, most of all, your love. In Jesus' name we pray Amen, amen, woo-hoo, okay, purpose let's get right into it y'all.

Speaker 1: 0:56

Purpose is in the falling and failing. A lot of times we don't find our purpose because we're so busy going through life's struggles, going through obstacles, challenges in life, and a lot of times we must fall. Maybe we lost our careers, or maybe we lost a loved one, or maybe we failed in marriages and relationships. Whatever it is, it usually brings us to our purpose. It's like a wake-up call. Pain and disappointments and loss pulls us up by bootstraps. Some people sit in it, allowing the enemy to keep them stuck and wallow in the herd, leaning into self-pity, feeling sorry for themselves, while others will cry and grieve, have that moment, wipe their tears and push forward, because the firing side won't let them give up, it won't let them give in and it won't let them stay stuck in all that mess. They believe something else is greater than what is seen by the natural eye when they finally look through a pair of lenses that is seen only through spiritual eyes it's light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of times you get up for work every day you don't feel like it. It must be something in you, though, that believes that there's light at the end of the tunnel. It's something that's going to be greater than today, and tomorrow is going to be even greater. That we keep getting up each day knowing that today is a new day.

Speaker 1: 2:52

Now, a lot of times, some people are led without even having purpose in mind, but they have purpose in their heart and it nudges you deep on the inside, while others try to stay numb to purpose or just numb period. They can't feel the nudging because they disconnected from their spirit and living solely by flesh. Numb in the pain, because, of course, they don't want to face it. They try to avoid it and they protect themselves from ever getting hurt again by building up a wall. Now stuck in a mindset of I can't. I can't do this, I can't do that. That's a mindset and that's why the renewal of the mind is so important and necessary to put away all the old thinking and transforming to the new you that holds purpose.

Speaker 1: 3:47

I want to use an example. Guys, an arrow and a bow, you pull it back to propel it forward. Sometimes God has to pull us back in order to propel us forward. A space shuttle has the fire underneath to launch it. Sometimes God got to bring your haters around. I don't even want to call it God sometimes, or the devil, but our haters sometimes really are our motivators. That fire on the inside of us keeps us moving forward.

Speaker 1: 4:21

A car, for example. Now I want to break this down with the car situation example. Now the car has got park, reverse, neutral and drive. Now you can stay, park if you want to, but you ain't going to go nowhere. Now, if you want to go in neutral, depending on your foundation and how straight it is, you might roll backwards or you might roll full Reverse. You can go ahead and put that bad boy in reverse and try to back up, but I don't know if you like me I'm old school. I still got to put my arm around the back of the passenger seat so I can look back, because I don't trust the camera in my car to reverse me. So and that's crazy that we have to see for ourselves, just like we want to see into the future, but we got to see for ourselves. So I got to look back myself and drive, but I ain't getting too far Because it's a fear that I might hit something. You know what I mean. I want to go too far.

Speaker 1: 5:25

And then there's drive, drive, moving forward. You're gonna drive forward, but you can't keep looking back. You can't keep looking in the past in order to move forward. You have to keep going. Whatever happened yesterday is gone, tomorrow's not promised and you have to live in the moment. Okay, so are you in park, preparing and planning where your next destination will be? You know? Are you in gear? Or what year you in? I Say drive, baby. Drive until the wheels fall off and when you get tired of driving, turn the wheel over to Jesus because he will take you the rest of the way.

Speaker 1: 6:12

Amen, just know that you are not the things you've been through. You're not who your parents are. You're not who Other people say you are. You are who God created you to be. You created on purpose, for purpose. The very core of you is different from what the world. Let me say that again, the very kid, the very core of you, is a Different from what the world has changed you into, always say that I'm gonna change the world and not allow the world to change me.

Speaker 1: 6:55

And and a lot of times when we go through things, we start getting hard and angry and bitter and all these feelings and we acting, just acting out in her, her people, her people. We acted out in her and we're passing it along. It's energy transferred and so you're. You've got this wall up and nobody can get in. How do you expect to love if you're not allowing anyone in your space to be able to love? You won't even be able to receive love because you have that wall built. I suggest that you find your passion so you can submit to your purpose. Goals change all the time, but purpose stays with you. Purpose is your very existence. We are here to serve in some form or another.

Speaker 1: 7:52

Now I'm going to tell you now, child, the devil's job is to kill, steal and destroy your purpose, because your purpose will impact lives. It's generally the solution to problems. What's in you? God is trying to pull out of you. There are things that people need that you have. The ingredients or the answers are going to be the resolutions to their problems, whatever that is.

Speaker 1: 8:24

But potential is not always enough. Just know that Potential is nothing without planning, walking in that thing and working it. That's how you're able to manifest. But if you are sitting with it and you're not doing anything with the gifts that God has given you, then it's just basically being wasted. You can have all the potential in the world, but if you don't activate that potential, then you're not going to go anywhere. You're going to be stuck in.

Speaker 1: 8:56

Paul, stop allowing the enemy and yourself and your anxiety to talk you out of your destiny. Now, I don't know if anybody else struggles with anxiety, but a lot of times I talk myself out of going places. If somebody asked me to go out. I don't need about three, four, five excuses of why I shouldn't go out it's too cold, it might be too crowded, whatever I make a lot of excuses, but do not allow the enemy to talk you out of your destiny. God is a God of love, not fear. We all have free will, so make a choice to stay stuck or move forward. Are you going to stay in park or are you going to drive that bad boy? For every action there's a reaction. Stop immediately reacting and just think for a moment. Take a moment and listen, not just to hear, to react, but to listen.

Speaker 1: 9:54

With free will, you can be free to be whoever you are created to be. You are complex and an imperfection, but perfect for who God has called you to be. The truth shall set you free or you can remain in bondage, imprisoned by your mistakes, embarrassed by failures, ashamed of the things that you've done in the past, even the things you do now. We all make mistakes, and that's okay, but just you know what? Apologize, take accountability and move the heck on. Don't stay shackled to the very thing that came as a life lesson, and stop blaming God and everyone else and take responsibility for some of the things that brought you to the fall. That really isn't a fall, but basically a wake-up call. So be grateful in all circumstances, find the light when there is darkness and be that light that conquers the darkness. Not just the darkness, of course, in the world, because it's a lot going on in the world but the darkness that's within you. Break out of that prison that you have created for yourself and be free to speak your truth, to live your truth and own your truth. Stop hiding behind the mask and that image you've created to hide the real, authentic you. You're not supposed to fit in. I don't know who this is for, but you're not supposed to fit in. Stand out, be that beacon of light that the world needs right now.

Speaker 1: 11:36

I want to share a little bit of my story with you. Real briefly. That when I was a little girl, I Used to hold my microphone was not a microphone, it was a hairbrush that I used as a microphone, and my bedroom had two beds a twin bed, two twin beds and one had all my stuffed animals, my Barbie dolls, on the double and I slept in. So with my microphone hairbrush, I Would teach, I Would preach. Now I'm pretending With my Barbie dolls and my stuffed animals. I would sing, I would dance, I Would entertain, I would speak and All of that practice okay, talent shows, all of that stuff. It was great I was.

Speaker 1: 12:32

You know I enjoy growing up and then tragedy hit. You know, I went through my last. I went through a rape abuse. My grandmother, when I was 12, had cancer, passed away when I was 13. This is the woman that had raised me and took care of me. So of course, I felt like my world just crumbled and I felt unwanted. I Felt not excuse me, not worthy. I felt I Didn't know where I belong. I was lost guys and Along my journey a lot of things happened, a lot of things I had went through and Nobody but God, y'all. I'm telling you I had to keep this relationship with God because if it wasn't for him, I'm telling you, you don't have to believe in God. But let me tell you something I know, like I know that it's nothing that has brought me through bugger and Years, years, years later I'm gonna make this short years later, I went to this church and and I started teaching the dance ministry for about four years In that time.

Speaker 1: 13:52

And me teaching the dance ministry, I would speak in front of different churches and so forth, and I was considered a youth minister and I found my purpose. And the reason why I know I have found my purpose is because I felt whole. I Was no longer empty, there was no longer a void. I stayed in my worship, I really dedicated myself to God because he had blessed me in so many ways and I wanted to live right and do the right thing. You know, I had bumped my head so many times. I wanted to try to get it right. And, and who knew that later on, after that, years later, we didn't have a church home to go to and so I said, well, we're gonna have church at home. So my spouse did the prayer, I did the sermon, my daughter did the scripture of the song and we had church. Okay, for months, maybe a year, I don't know for a long time.

Speaker 1: 15:01

And then I Went on tiktok and went over my spiritual journey and I talked about the healing process and why it's important. Because I had, you know, something happened in my life where it had me to wake up and Look over my life and say, okay, why am I repeating the same cycles over and over and over? So I had to take a look at myself and unpack some things and I went on tiktok and I discussed, you know, a lot of my story and In doing that I gained 17,000 followers just from talking. Okay, just talking, not twerking, but talking y'all okay. So, but it made me feel like I. You know there is something in me that God is placing me to Deliver as a message to people that my story was not in vain, that he had something for me and I just didn't know where I belong, that I know where I fit in or none of that, but I just knew that I Wanted to help people on their journey the few people that helped me along the way. I was so grateful and I felt so blessed that I wanted to pass that on to someone else.

Speaker 1: 16:22

I've always been a fixer. You know that friend that's gonna show up for you and try to help you through your problems and you know you can call me two o'clock in the morning if you use something happen. Girl, call me, girl, you know, anytime of the night. I'm that friend and I have a passion for loving people, helping people in no judgments. I love them right where they are, because I've been through a lot and I wouldn't want anybody to judge me, but I've been through, I've been there, done that, and so I really get it and understand where people are in your lives and that we shouldn't judge. You know, never judge a bookbiz cover.

Speaker 1: 17:01

But I said all of that to say that I finally found my purpose. You know, probably I've worked about 40, some jobs, about 30 jobs. Later I finally found what fulfilled me and I know that if God can do it for me, he can do it for you. You have purpose and Do not allow the enemy to block attack. Take away anything else that he's already taken from you. Do not allow him to have power over you or anyone to have power over you when you can't speak your truth and you can't be authentic and Transparent, because that's who you are.

Speaker 1: 17:43

We see enough fakeness Through social media and people's lives seeming so perfect and they're all put together well and they have a perfect marriage or a perfect relationship. There's no such thing as a perfect person or a perfect relationship. We're striving to do the best that we can and be the best versions of ourselves we can, and that's why I always talk about healing, because healing is so important in any relationship, even for ourselves, to just love ourselves, self-love, self-care, setting boundaries and being able to be full enough to pour into someone else. So, anyway, I want you to go within, do some inner work on yourself. And speaking of inner work, okay, so we have some books donated, so every Okay, let me go.

Speaker 1: 18:41

Let me tell you what happened with this book, real quick. So I was Watching tiktok, you know, scrolling. I always see this advertisement about this book and it's called the shadow work journal. Now I saw, you know, different videos about it, some good, some bad, or more good than bad. But I had to read it for myself and this is exactly what I was talking about and I didn't know, I didn't have this book, I didn't use it, but I'm using it now. But it really Explains a lot of our triggers unconscious, unconscious mind Womb mapping, abandonment wounds, guilt wounds, trust wounds, neglect wounds. It has activities and exercises that you can complete yourself. So it's really a journal, personal, for you to find out whatever it is that you need to heal from and what's holding you back from your purpose.

Speaker 1: 19:41

So, every episode after today Well, next start of next Monday, every episode, at the end of the episode, I'm gonna give you a keyword, and then what I'd like for you to do is take that keyword and email it to me Okay, at free concepts with an s podcast, at gmailcom Shipping address as well, because if you win, I'm gonna have to ship it to you. So it's free. Okay, I want to go ahead and get these books out once a week Until the new year, okay. So this is my gift To you to be a blessing, because I want you to heal, I want you to actually do the work within so that you can be the best version of you that you can be. And Someone blessed us with these books. They wanted to remain anonymous and I'm gonna let them, you know, have that. But it was a blessing because I got the book.

Speaker 1: 20:42

I, you know, went through it. It's really good. I'm working in it now. And the other person Purchased it because I spoke so highly about it and and I usually buy stuff off the internet, y'all Just saying but this was something that actually I couldn't get rid of. It kept popping up, kept popping up until I finally, you know. So it kind of found me, but it goes with what I'm trying to do.

Speaker 1: 21:06

So it's called free concepts and then it's unmasked, because we're trying to unmask, to Show the the real us. We've hit behind the mask for too long, you know, trying to be what everybody else expects us to be, and we're not True to ourselves and who God created us to be. So I think that's really important. And then we are here to Motivate, educate and elevate. So I want to thank you for your time.

Speaker 1: 21:38

Please do not forget next episode, next Monday, at the end of the episode, I will give you that key word and you email it, and then what I'm gonna do is go through all of them and Put all your names in a hat and pull it. Okay, I'll probably do it on a tiktok video or live so you guys can see. And Again, thank you for your time. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you so much. I hope that this word has blessed you in such a way that it will make you think about your purpose and what you want to do next. And Just know that change nobody likes change. It's very uncomfortable, but if God is moving you and Uprooting you, just know that when one door closes, another one's gonna open and he's trying to push you into whatever your purpose is. But he has to shake some things up sometimes and it might not look good, it might not feel good, but just know that he is working on you. God bless you. Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you next Monday. Have a blessed one.