Last night I was watching a video of a motivational speaker who spoke about embodying our personal missions. He mentioned that for many people there is a transformative event which occurs between the ages of 9 and 12 years which profoundly impacts the course we choose to take with our lives and can even help us define our individual mission. At first, I was skeptical about this statement and then gave it some thought.
When I was about 8 my grandfather moved from Chicago to live near where I lived. He visited us often and would stay for extended periods of time. I grew very close to him. To this day, I speak of him with great reverence and a sense of closeness. My grandfather had heart disease and on at least one occasion when he was at our home he suffered a heart attack. When I was 14 years old he died. Since that time, I have both missed him and remembered him fondly many times.
His experience with heart disease is what motivated me to become interested in cardiology, where I started my nursing career. My appreciation for him is what motivates me to work with people who are at risk for or have heart disease, to enable them (you) to live fully.
What motivates you to maintain a heart healthy lifestyle?
Really loved the “heart” in this story. Thanks for sharing it with us. I’ll have to think about what happened in my life between 9 and 12 years old that may have given life to my own mission.
It’s an interesting thought to look back to that time for self definition.