‘Purpose’ is the reason for which something is done. The reason something is created or exists.
I have been asked many times, what is my purpose for writing?
My answer is simple. I write to express a thought or concept that would lead my readers to a place where they could understand themselves better or see a situation in a better light, knowing there are consequences to every decision and solutions to every problem. However, throughout my life, I have allowed circumstances and people to stop or limit me from doing the very thing I was placed here to do.
I remember Brother Myles Munroe saying to me, “Adele, if you don’t know the purpose of a thing, abuse is inevitable.” It took a while for me to understand the ‘why’ but, once I did, there was a determination inside me—a new-found desire to write with even more conviction, knowing I was hitting my mark and moving in the right direction.
I can hear my mother, the late Charlena Hewett Brown, say, “Youth is wasted on the young.” Which became another obstacle in my way. Was I now too old to get ‘discovered’? And deep within my soul, I heard the words, “of course not.”
According to what I’ve learned about purpose, we’re all here on this earth, to achieve something great, and I’m fortunate enough to know that my purpose—my greatness lies amidst the words I write. However, in my journey to discovering that purpose, I’ve stumbled many times along uneven roads of uncertainty and faltered through and over plenty of paths that led to heartbreak. But I’ve also learned that if I rely on God and move out of my own way, He will lead me back to the place where I’m supposed to be. Today, I realize I don’t have time to waste. I will continue to write my stories in the hope that you will continue to read them and that they will make a difference in your life. When I leave this earth, my desire is to leave empty. I don’t want to have one poem left inside of me, not one song, novel, or deed undone. I don’t want to leave here, thinking, I should’ve or could’ve, or what may have happened if I would’ve.
If you were to follow the footprints in my life, you would at times walk in circles, zig-zags, back and forth, then loop around and start again, confused as to where the footprints were leading you. But what I’ve realized, through my understanding of purpose and my journey, is that the footprints are not for you at all but for me, leading me back to myself.
–Adele Hewett Veal
