“Become the leader of your life. Lead yourself to where you want to be. Breathe life back into your ambitions, your desires, your goals, your relationships.” ― Steve Maraboli

Back in 2008, I took a week-long vacation to Hawaii.

I went by myself.

Why?

Because my best friend from high school backed out at the last minute AND I had just broken up with my boyfriend at the time.

It was October and it was hot, but not summer-hot in Honolulu. I rented a white SUV to drive around the island for the week.

One day, I drove out to the North Shore and spent hours relaxing on the beach.

It was just me, my journal, a picnic basket of food and wine and the occasional surfer dude coming by to ask me if I wanted to smoke.

For some reason, I had been thinking about my father a lot that year. I thought about him that whole week, actually.

It dawned on me that I was 25, the same age my father was when he killed himself. 

Why wasn’t I DEAD yet?

I laid out on that beach at the North Shore drinking and wondering how come I WASN’T DEAD YET.

As a teenager, I had started worrying that suicide was hereditary, or at least the conditions that made someone want to die.

As an adult, I understood that this wasn’t exactly the case, but it remained a present worry that showed up in select moments of uncertainty.

It was a pebble rolling around in my mind, threatening to ruin my life if I let it.

On the day of my father’s funeral in November 1989, Mom had me wear one of my “good” dresses with thick tights that shielded my skinny six year-old legs from the cold morning.

But on the North Shore that day in October 2008, the air was warm and my legs were bare.

I was all grown up now, thousands of miles and many years away from that time and place in my life that had caused me so much pain.

I gazed into the blue-green water, the waves rushing up like a question.

I kept thinking to myself:

I COULD BE DEAD BY NOW.

A message from spirit…

A few hours later, I heard a message from God.

Not like a “big booming voice” per se.

It was more like a soft tap on the shoulder.

“You could be dead by now, but you’re still alive. And that means you still have work to do.”

In that moment, I became filled with this absolute sense of knowing.

And I immediately realized the beautiful truth of that statement:

I’M STILL ALIVE!

So I must be here for a reason.

God still has work for me to do.

And then I started doing the work.

I started getting serious about figuring out WHY I was born, WHAT I was put here on earth to do and HOW I could go about doing it.

The answers were always there, but only when I was BRAVE enough to open my eyes and see them.

And if you’re reading this right now, there’s still work for you to do, too.

There’s still work for YOU to do!

But let me ask you a personal question…

Look around your life right now.

Are you doing the work you were TRULY put here on earth to do?

My name is Rosetta Thurman and if you had met me back in 2007, you would have encountered a relatively successful young woman living in Washington, DC.

I had been placed in a senior management position at a regional nonprofit in the city.

I loved my job, but behind the professional facade, I still felt unsure and confused about what I was REALLY supposed to be doing with my life.

But once I started getting serious about finding my purpose…that’s when my life started to take on a much bigger meaning.

“The key is taking responsibility and initiative, deciding what your life is about and prioritizing your life around the most important things.” – Stephen Covey

Without a doubt, I now KNOW that I was put here on earth for a reason.

I KNOW exactly what I’ve been called to do.

That’s what led me to quit my job in 2010.

I left my comfort zone and the security of a full-time salary to follow my purpose full-time as an author, speaker, mentor and coach.

I can’t wait to share my powerful self-discovery process with you!